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I^eatlj's pcttagosical iLibrarg 



THE 



PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



FREDERICK TRACY, B.A., Ph.D. 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OP TORONTO, CANADA 

AND 

JOSEPH STIMPFL, Ph.D. 

TEACHER IN THE ROYAL SEMINARY 
AT BAMBERG, GERMANY 



SEVENTH EDITION 
REVISED AND ENLARGED 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1909 



LHi 






COPTKIGHT, 1894, 1901, AND 1909 

Bt FEEDEKICK TEACY 



SEP 14 1909 



y 



PREFACE 

The undersigned have united to issue the second German 
and seventh English edition of The Psychology of Child- 
hood. The earlier text has been submitted to a thorough 
revision, while the German author has added to the work 
a series of new paragraphs and a seventh chapter. These 
enlargements deal principally with abnormal mental con- 
ditions in child life. The fundamental importance of child- 
psychology for the teacher is now no longer a matter of 
dispute among those best qualified to judge. The psycho- 
pathology of childhood is almost equally important. In 
this book the simple or elementary disorders of the child's 
psychic life are described in close connection with the cor- 
responding normal conditions; while the complicated dis- 
orders, or "psychopathies," are treated by themselves in 
the newly added seventh chapter. It was the intention of 
the authors to issue the German and English editions simul- 
taneously; but on account of the illness of the English 
author the publication of the English edition has been de- 
layed until now. The German edition was published early 

in 1908. 

FREDERICK TRACY, 

Toronto, Canada. 
JOSEPH STIMPFL, 

Bamberg, Germant. 



iii 



CONTENTS 

FA.OB 

Introduction vii 

CHAPTER I. THE SENSES 

SECTION 

I. Sight 1 

II. Hearing 21 

III. Touch 27 

IV. Taste 31 

v. Smell 34 

VI. Temperature 37 

VII. Organic Sensations 38 

VIII. Muscular Feelings 40 

CHAPTER II. THE INTELLECT 

I. Perception 44 

II. Memory 47 

III. Association 52 

IV. Imagination 59 

V. The Discursive Processes 63 

VL The Idea of Self 70 

CHAPTER III. THE FEELINGS 

L Fear 76 

11. Anger . , 79 

III. Surprise, Astonishment, Curiosity .... 81 

IV. Esthetic Feelings 84 

V. Love, Sympathy, etc 87 

VI. Disorders of Feeling 91 

V 



VI CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK IV. THE WILL 

SBCTION PAGK 

I. Impulsive Movements 97 

II. Keflex Movements 98 

III. Instinctive Movements 102 

IV. Ideational Movements 105 

CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE 

I. Heredity vs. Education in Language .... 119 

II. The Physiological Development 123 

III. The Phonetic and Psychic Development . . . 127 

IV. Disorders of Speech 163 

CHAPTER VI. ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS 

IDEAS 

I. The Child's Sense of the Beautiful .... 166 

Children's Drawings 169 

II. The Moral Nature of the Child 179 

III. The Religious Nature of the Child .... 189 

CHAPTER VIL PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN 
CHILD LIFE 

I. The Psychic Derangements 195 

(a) Mania 195 

(6) Melancholia 197 

(c) Paranoia 199 

(d) Imbecility 200 

II. Neuroses, or Nerve Diseases 205 

(a) Necrasthenla 205 

(6) Hysteria 208 

(c) Epilepsy 213 

III. Summary 215 



INTRODUCTION 

The comparative method of study has commended itself 
to all the sciences in modern times by its fertility in results, 
and is now being employed extensively in two principal 
directions: viz., the analogical and the genetical. The 
philologist, for example, compares his own language, on the 
one hand with other languages (in the search for analogies), 
and on the other avails himself of all manuscripts, inscrip- 
tions, etc., which show him his language in its earliest 
stages, and help him to determine by the operation of what 
causes, and according to what laws, it has developed from 
its original crude and inefficient state to its present pol- 
ished and complicated condition. And similarly with other 
sciences. In the case of psychology the application of the 
comparative method has led the investigator to the obser- 
vation of mental manifestations in the lower animals; in 
human beings of morbid or defective mental life, such as 
the insane, the idiotic, the blind, deaf and dumb ; in peoples 
of different types of culture, ancient and modern, savage 
and civilized ; and finally to the study of the mental life in 
the early stages of its development in the child. Such 
study has already yielded valuable results, not only for 
psychology itself (which now finds itself in possession of 
that genetic point of view which has proved so valuable in 
other sciences), but most of all for pedagogy, whose very 
business it is to facilitate the healthy unfolding of that life 
whose early stages we here seek to understand. 



vm THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

When we compare the young child with the young animal, 
we cannot fail to be struck by the apparent superiority of 
the latter over the former, at the beginning of life. The 
human infant, for example, requires weeks to attain the 
power of holding his head in equilibrium, while the young 
chicken runs about and picks up grains of wheat before 
the first day of his life is over. This, however, carefully 
considered,, is a token rather of the superiority than of the 
inferiority of the human being, and has most important 
bearings upon the entire life of the individual, as well as 
upon the character of human society. The higher you as- 
cend in the scale of being, the more varied and complex is 
the environment in which the individual moves, and to 
which he must adapt himself. This adaptation requires, on 
the physiological side, a cerebral and nervous development, 
and on the psychic side a mental growth, for which time is 
an absolute necessity. Animals go on all their lives, doing 
the same simple things, which require a minimum of mental 
activity, and which, by dint of constant repetition, produce 
physiological adjustments that become at length hereditary ; 
so that phenomena which seem to the casual observer the 
index of an astonishing degree of mental advancement — 
such as the " scampering " of young chicks on a certain 
peculiar call of the mother — are really at bottom little more 
than the response of an organism, adjusted by heredity, to 
the action of an external stimulus. 

The longer and more arduous the journey, the more time 
is required for preparation ; the more complicated the art to 
be acquired, the more extended is the period of apprentice- 
ship. So the child, having an infinitely grander life before 
him, and infinitely more exalted, complicated and difficult 
operations to perform — mental, moral and physical — re- 
quires a longer period of tutelage than the chicken, which 
on the first day of his life scratches and pecks, and to the 



INTRODUCTION IX 

end of his existence makes no advance upon these simple 
operations. The young animal, before the end of the first 
day of his life, does what it takes the child a year to accom- 
plish ; but the child of two years does what the animal never 
will accomplish to the end of his days. 

The object of the present essay is to discuss infant 
psychology. What are the most important characteristics 
of the unfolding of the mental life? How far is it con- 
ditioned by heredity, and how far by education? What 
are the outstanding features of the process by which the 
mind comes into conscious possession of itself and clear 
recognition of its autonomy ? These are some of the ques- 
tions to which the following pages may help to furnish an 
answer. 

The principle of transformation, referred to occasionally 
in the text, may be explained as follows : Every mental phe- 
nomenon passes through a graduated ascending series of 
development. At first, the physiological predominates, 
consciousness is at a minimum, and the so-called mental 
phenomenon would be more accurately defined as the reaction 
of the nervous system to external stimuli or to organic 
conditions. 

For example, the child cries at intervals from the moment 
of his birth, but at first this cry is independent of his 
will, and possesses scarcely any mental significance, for 
it is made without cerebral cooperation, and — as in the 
case of microcephalic infants — even when the cerebrum is 
entirely absent. Later the mental aspect becomes more 
prominent. When the intellect and will have become 
sufaciently developed, the child directs his attention to the 
act, makes it his own, and performs it voluntarily. The 
process perhaps has not changed at all, to outward appear- 
ance, but when viewed on the inner side, it is seen to have 
been completely transformed in character ; and one of the 



X THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

most difficult tasks for the psychologist is to determine the 
when and the how of this transformation. 

It may be well to explain that the children referred to in 
the text by initial letters were the subjects of prolonged and 
careful observations, made by the author and others during 
the preparation of the earlier editions of this work. 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

CHAPTER I 

THE SENSES 

It is important to treat sensation first, because it lies at 
the foundation of all mental development. Though we may 
not agree with Locke, that all ideas are derived from sensa- 
tion, yet we must agree that there are no ideas in the mind 
prior to sensation. And looking at the active side of our 
nature, the intimate connection between the senses and the 
will is equally manifest. Our sense-impressions, produced 
by external objects upon the peripheral organism, are con- 
veyed along the afferent nerves to sensory centres closely 
connected with corresponding motor centres in the cerebral 
cortex. Hence the importance of the child's sense-growth. 

I. Sight 

The Eye op the New-born. — If the statement is made 
that the new-born child is blind, it must not be taken to 
mean that he is in darkness — for the peripheral mechanism 
of the eye is complete at birth, and the difference between 
light and darkness is felt from the beginning — but only 
this, that he cannot as yet see things, in the proper sense of 
the terms. This is due to lack of experience, to imperfect 
development of the cerebral centres, and to the dazzling 
effect of the light, which now streams in, as Sigismund 
says, with millions of waves, upon a delicate organ, accus- 
1 



2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

tomed, up to this time, to complete darkness.^ This latter 
obstacle, however, is soon overcome, and the child's progress 
in seeing takes place with great rapidity. 

Sensibility to Light. — This is the first feeling, having 
an external cause, which the child experiences by means of 
the eye. This organ is especially adapted, by its peculiar 
mechanism of retina and rods and cones, and by its nerves 
and muscles of convergence, contraction and accommodation, 
to receive the rays of light that fall upon it; and hence, as 
soon as the first shock is over, and the infant eye has become 
accustomed to its new surroundings, it turns toward the light 
as naturally as the opening petals of a newly blown flower 
turn toward the rising sun. Or, as Locke has said : " Even 
as the soul thirsts for ideas, so the eye of the child thirsts 
for the light." This sensibility to light is normally present 
in the first minutes of life, and is rarely delayed beyond a 
few hours, except in the case of some malformation of the 
organs. At this stage, however, the distinction of light and 
darkness is felt rather than known; and even the turning of 
the head toward the light, which has been observed on the 
second day of life, and even as early as the twentieth hour, 
must be considered as nearly akin to the movement of the 
plant toward the light. But this condition of things is not 
of long duration. To take a single case (that of Preyer's 
boy), we are told that he soon began to show signs of pleas- 
ure at a moderate light, pain at too powerful a glare, and 
less pleasure in darkness. Even during the first day the 
expression of his face changed when an intervening object 
cut off the light, and on the eleventh day he would cry when 

1 Kussmaul also remarks: " Ausgetragene Kinder, welche eben zur 
Welt gekommen und ruhig geworden sind, versuchen ofter das Auge 
wiederholt zu offnen sind aber immer wieder gezwungen es rasch und 
kramphaft vor dem einfallenden hellen Lichte zu schliessen." 



THE SENSES 3 

the light was carried out of the room. As time passed on, 
he continually took increasing notice of these sensations, 
until in his second month the sight of a bright light, or a 
brightly colored object, was sufficient to elicit from him ex- 
clamations of delight. 

Too powerful a light causes discomfort, even in sleep. 
The child knits his eyelids more closely together, or even 
becomes restless and awakes. A very bright light is espe- 
cially painful immediately on awakening, not only to the 
eye of the child, but also to that of the adult. Preyer ob- 
served that his boy shut his eyes and turned his head away 
when a candle was held close to him on awakening. But 
when he had been awake for some hours, he looked steadily, 
without blinking, at a candle held one metre from his eyes. 

With these qualifications, we may conclude, then, that 
" light is pleasant to the eye," being its natural " food," and 
that imder its influence the delicate organ of vision grows 
and develops, the visual centres in the cerebrum become 
differentiated and capable of performing their function, thus 
rendering possible the subsequent apprehension of qualities 
in external things by means of this sense. 

Physiological Adjustments to Light. — At the begin- 
ning of life, all adjustments of the visual organ to the 
strength of the light are reflex. For example, from the 
very first the filaments that contract the pupil perform their 
function. The pupil accommodates itself to the brightness 
of the light, expanding and contracting, as Kussmaul and 
Eaehlmann have shown. Both pupils contract when the 
light reaches one of them. These movements of contraction 
remain automatic to the end of life. It is otherwise with 
such movements as following a moving light or object with 
the eyes. This is at first undoubtedly reflex, since it takes 
place before the conscious centres have been sufficiently 



4 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

developed for voluntary action, but it afterwards certainly 
comes within the domain of the will, as is evident from 
adult conscious experience. 

Eye-movements. — This includes movements of the eye- 
balls (upward, downward, and from right to left, etc.) and 
movements of the lids (raising and lowering), as well as the 
relation of the two to each other. 

Does the child possess a complete nerve-mechanism for 
eye-movements working perfectly from the beginning, or 
does he gradually and painfully acquire all eye-movements ? 
The most recent observations lead to the following conclu- 
sion: The mechanism is inherited complete so far as pupil, 
retina and nerve tracts are concerned, but the corresponding 
brain centres are not yet developed in the first days, and 
become so only by experience ; consequently the adjustment 
of movements to external conditions takes place by degrees. 
No doubt there is a hereditary predisposition to coordinated 
movements, which to some extent facilitates the subsequent 
adjustment, but the largest share is due to experience. The 
following facts have been established by careful observations : 

First. — As to movements of the eye-balls : Complete con- 
scious coordination of the movements of the two eyes does 
not take place during the first days. True, the eyes some- 
times move together, even from the first, but there are also 
numberless non-coordinated movements, which proves that 
the coordinated ones are accidental at first, and that the 
useless movements are only gradually eliminated. Raehl- 
mann and Witkowski, in a very large number of observa- 
tions on new-born children, carried on for fifteen years, 
found that the infant eyes, especially in sleep, " assume 
positions and perform movements which are entirely con- 
trary to all the principles of association," including complete 
opposite movements of the eyes, resulting in divergence of 



THE SENSES O 

eye-positions. Sometimes the eyes move together, later- 
ally and vertically (though this coordination is not so 
perfect as in the adult), but just as frequently are the 
movements irregular. Sometimes one eye moves, while 
the other remains at rest. Sometimes the head is turned 
in one direction, and the eyes in another. A great deal of 
unnecessary convergence takes place, as I have frequently 
observed. In most observed cases, however, these asym- 
metrical movements have become very much less frequent 
by the third month, and, at a little later time, have almost 
entirely disappeared, except in sleep. 

Second. — As to movements of the lids : The only lid- 
movement that can be accepted as inborn, is the sudden 
"blinking" when a foreign substance comes into contact 
with the lashes or the cornea, or on the sudden approach of 
a strong light. The mere approach of the object, without 
contact, does not produce blinking at first ; indeed, in some 
cases, it fails in children two months old. All other lid- 
movements are at first accidental. Sometimes the lids move 
together, though more frequently they do not. Sometimes 
one eye remains open while the other is shut. The two 
eyes do not always open to an equal degree ; and often, if 
one eye be disturbed and blinking take place, the lid of the 
undisturbed eye will follow some time after the other. The 
lids are often raised while the look is directed downward, 
and vice versa. The child often falls asleep with the lids 
a little apart. Coordination, then, is not perfect at first, 
but becomes so by experience. Not only so, but the child 
actually has to unlearn several movements (e.g., raising the 
lids while the eyes are directed downward), and these have 
become impossible in the adult. Gradually these asym- 
metrical movements disappear, until by the end of the 
third month they have become very rare, except in sleep. 

All that has been said concerning movements of the eyes, 



6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

and of the lids, separately, is true, mutatis mutandis, of the 
relation of these to each other. Perfect coordination among 
the several branches of the oculomotorius is not present at 
the beginning of life (not at all during the first ten days, 
according to Raehlmann), but is a gradual attainment, re- 
quiring time and experience. But when once the awaken- 
ing mind has taken possession of the eye, and made the 
movements of that organ its own, it becomes one of the 
most expressive organs of the body, and reveals the various 
shades of the inner feeling with astonishing accuracy. 

Fixation. — By this is meant conscious direction of the 
gaze upon an object, as contrasted with passive staring into 
space. And the question of most importance here is : When 
does the child pass from the one to the other ? The question 
is important, because it throws light upon the beginning of 
volition, which, in its exercise, determines in such large 
measure the mental and moral development of the child. 

Preyer divides the " seeing " of the infant into four stages. 
I shall follow his classification, bringing under each head- 
ing also the observations made by others on the period 
in question: 

First. — Staring into empty space ; experiencing a sensa- 
tion, but not perceiving an object. The ability to "fixate" 
an object is lacking in the newly-born, because he has as 
yet no control over the muscles that move the head and eyes. 
The apparent looking of the first days is not, therefore, a 
voluntary or intelligent action, but only the instinctive turn- 
ing of the head and eye so as to bring the light into contact 
with the central portion of the retina, where it produces the 
greatest amount of pleasurable feeling. When Champneys 
observes that one child " fixed" his eyes on a candle on the 
seventh day, and Darwin reports that another child did the 
same on the ninth day, Preyer remarks that this was prob- 



THE SENSES 7 

ably not real looking, but only staring into space, since in 
other similar cases it was observed that the child continued 
to "look" when the object was withdrawn. There is prob- 
ably no fixation in the first nine days. 

Second. — The child no longer " stares," but " looks." He 
fastens his gaze upon a bright extended surface {e.g., his 
mother's face), and when another bright, moderately large 
object comes within the field of vision, he turns his eyes 
from the first to the second. One child was observed to do 
this on his eleventh, and another on his fourteenth day. 
Along with the fixing of the gaze, there is also a more 
intelligent expression. Perez reports that a child observed 
by him "looked fixedly for three or four minutes at a 
flickering reflection of light before the end of his first 
month." In another case, an object was looked at steadily 
in the fourth week for the first time ; in another, a yellow 
dress held the child's gaze at five weeks; and in still 
another the power of fixation is reported on as still absent 
when the child was two months old. Sigismund observes 
that about the middle of the first three months the child 
"begins to look at objects with attention"; and Eaehl- 
mann found that "appropriate selection among the many 
possible eye and lid movements, with fixation of the object, 
took place for the first time after the fifth week." 

Koughly generalizing from these and other observations, 
we may venture the conclusion that the average child begins 
to focus his eyes upon objects about the fourth or fifth week 
of his life. 

TJiird. — In the third stage, the child has acquired the 
power to follow with his eyes a bright, moving object. 
Here we have associated movements of the eyes, the head 
being motionless, or nearly so. We have now, therefore, a 
distinct advance, requiring a higher exercise of power over 
the muscles. The movement is not accomplished if the 



8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

object be moved too rapidly. In one case the child's eyes 
followed a moving candle in the second week ; in another, 
on the twenty-third day. But most of the observers have 
noticed this activity first about the fifth week, some as late 
as the sixth or seventh. Raehlmann remarks on this point 
to the following effect : Associated lateral movements of the 
eyes can be found seldom earlier than the fifth week. Hold 
a bright or colored object at a little distance, directly before 
the child's eyes. One soon notices a peculiar change of 
expression, accompanied by cessation of the movements 
•which the limbs until now were executing. The object has 
been fixated. Now move it slowly in a horizontal direction 
to one side, and both the eyes follow, but without movement 
of the head. If the object be moved quickly, the child's 
eyes lose it at once ; and also if the movement be vertical 
instead of horizontal. I obtained similar results in the case 
of a child a little over four weeks old, except that the head, 
as well as the eyes, followed the object as it moved from 
side to side. Genzmer, however, by shaking a bright object 
before the eyes, obtained not only fixation, but following 
movements, in a large number of children, at a much earlier 
age than this. 

In the early part of this third stage, Preyer holds, there 
is no necessary cooperation of the cerebrum, but only of the 
corpora quadrigemina, and he cites in proof the experiment 
of Longet with a pigeon, from which the cerebral hemi- 
spheres had been carefully removed, and which, in that 
condition, followed with its eyes the flame of a moving 
candle. It may be remarked, however, that since the 
instinctive and reflex play so much larger a part relatively 
in the lower animals than in man, this proof is not entirely 
trustworthy, forasmuch as a movement, which in the lower 
animals is reflex, may in man require the cooperation of 
the cerebrum. More to the purpose would be the case of 



THE SENSES 9 

an acephalous or microcephalous child. Kollman says of the 
microcephalous Margaret Becker, eight years of age : " Her 
gait is tottering, the movements of the head and extremities 
jerky, not always coordinated, hence unsteady, inappro- 
priate, and spasmodic ; her look is restless, objects are not 
definitely fixated.^' This case seems to point in the opposite 
direction from that of Longet's pigeon, and Preyer's con- 
clusion therefrom. 

Fourth. — Here we pass from looking to observing, to the 
active search for objects. The child has acquired ability 
to give definite direction to the gaze, and hold it there. Of 
course the first attempts are often ineffectual, but, roughly 
speaking, from about the third to the fifth month, this 
power is obtained. A girl of ten weeks looked for the 
face of a person calling her. A boy in his sixth week 
moved his head to follow a look cast in a certain direction. 
Another began in his sixteenth week to look intently at his 
own hands. Another of twelve weeks, on hearing a noise 
made by a person on a drinking glass with a moistened 
finger, turned his head in the direction of the noise, and, 
after one or two ineffectual attempts, found the object with 
his eyes and fixated it. In the fourteenth week he followed 
promptly the movements of a pendulum which made forty 
complete oscillations per minute. Sigismund's boy, at 
nineteen weeks, paid great attention to the movements of a 
pendulum, and afterwards followed the movements of a 
spoon from dish to mouth and back again, with eager mien. 
Rapid movements, however, are not as yet preferred. In 
a railway carriage, the child of this age does not look at 
the passing objects, but rather at the walls and ceiling of 
the coach. Not before the twenty-ninth week (in one 
observed case) did the child look distinctly, beyond doubt, 
at a sparrow flying by. Another "watched the flight of 
birds " when five months old. It will readily be observed 



10 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

that the full attainment of this fourth stage involves 
voluntary control of the mechanism of the eye as well as 
considerable progress in the intellectual apprehension of 
the external world. So that now the child is no longer 
the reflex, staring creature, but has become the bona Jide 
" seeing " human being. 

Seeing in Perspective. — Numerous observations con- 
firm the following statements : 

(a) The new-born child does not see, in any sense of the 
word, objects that are very distant from him ; or if he sees 
them at all, the impression made by them upon the retina is 
so vague as not to enter into distinct consciousness. In- 
deed, there are few distinct retinal images at first from 
objects either near or distant. 

(6) For a long time after he is able to see objects at a 
considerable distance, and several objects at unequal dis- 
tances in the field of vision together, he still does not know 
how unequal their distances are, or even that they are 
unequal. The physiological mechanism of the eye, by 
which it is " accommodated " to the distance of the object 
seen, operates very early ; but the estimation of distance is 
long imperfect. At one month and five days, Tiedemann's 
son " distinguished objects outside him, and tried to seize 
them, extending his hands and bending his body." By the 
end of the second month, there is, according to one observer, 
a vague idea of distance. But most observers place it much 
later than this. One says : " The first real grasping of the 
fixated object, with appreciation of its distance, was observed 
about the end of the fifth month. But it is very slowly 
acquired, and not until much later than this does the hand 
proceed directly, by the nearest way, to the object." An- 
other found but little comprehension of size or distance 
until the sixth month. In other cases great confusion about 



THE SENSES 11 

distances was observed in children nearly a year old, and 
even far on into the second year. On the other hand, a 
girl of seven months showed that she had a comparatively 
correct idea of small distances, by refusing to reach for an 
object more than about fourteen inches distant. 

(c) At first the child sees only colored surface, and not 
figures in the third dimension. All objects present them- 
selves to his eye simply as patches of color. Gradually, by 
the aid of movement and touch, he comes to a knowledge of 
their cubic properties. Hence also arises by experience an 
association between the forms and distances of objects and 
their varying degrees of luminosity, so that the child comes 
to interpret the one in terms of the other. Hence the prog- 
ress of the child in complete vision, including all that is 
meant by the appreciation of perspective, is immensely 
facilitated from the time he begins to walk, since, by loco- 
motion, he is able to approach the object and bring sight, 
touch, and the muscular sense to bear upon its examination. 

Color Discrimination. — Not only is color blindness 
" notoriously hereditary " as an abnormal condition in the 
adult, but it is the normal condition of the new-born child. 
Since the tractus opticus does not get its nerve medulla, and 
with that its permanent coloring, until the third or fourth 
day of life, there is probably no discrimination of colors up 
to that time, but only of light and darkness. Moreover, 
even when discrimination of colors has begun, it proceeds 
very slowly, and the investigation is beset by difficulties. 
How are we to distinguish {e.g.) the mere feeling of differ- 
ence between sensations of color from intelligent apprehen- 
sion of the colors themselves ? Very little can be done 
until the child can speak, and even then new difficulties 
present themselves. The names of colors are more difficult 
to acquire than the names of things, because more abstract. 



12 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Grant Allen found that children of two years and even 
more, who knew perfectly well the names of grapes, straw- 
berries, and oranges, had no appropriate verbal symbol for 
purple, crimson, or orange, as a color; and I have found, 
in examining the child-vocabularies which I have collected 
for the fifth chapter of the present work, that out of five 
thousand four hundred words only about thirty are color 
terms. In several cases the vocabulary of a child two years 
old contains not a single color word, though he habitually 
employs from three to five hundred words. Another diffi- 
culty lies in the association between the color and its name. 
The child may know a color — red — perfectly well; and 
may also know the sound, — red, — but he may not be able 
to associate the two together, so as, when red is named, to 
point it out; or, when it is pointed out, to name it. This is 
not from lack of ability to distinguish color from color, 
but from inability to associate the color with the spoken 
word. 

A girl ten days old had her attention arrested by the con- 
trasted colors of her mother's dress. She seemed pleased 
and smiled. A boy twenty -three days old was pleased 
with a brightly colored curtain. Another child in his 
second month took notice of the difference between bright 
colors and quiet ones, and showed his preference for the 
former by smiles. Another, towards the end of his second 
month, was attracted by white, blue and violet, other colors 
being indifferent. A girl of three months and a boy of five 
months seemed pleased with some drawings of a uniformly 
gray color, while Genzmer's boy for the first four months 
of his life seemed attracted only by white objects, but after 
that time he began to show a preference for other bright 
colors, especially red. Eaehlmann found no distinction of 
similar objects differently colored until a good while after 
the fifth week. Sometimes a strange antipathy to certain 



THE SENSES 13 

colors is manifested. In several cases children have refused 
to go to anybody dressed in black. 

Experiments in color discrimination, which involve the 
use of words, may be carried on in two ways. A color may 
be named and the child required to pick that color out of 
several ; or the color may be shown him, and he required 
to name it. Preyer used both methods, with the following 
results: In the twentieth month repeated trials yielded 
absolutely no result, but in the beginning of the child's 
third year, the first correct responses were obtained, the 
residt being eleven right answers and six wrong ones. In 
this case he used two colors, red and green. Then yellow 
was added, and at once took its place as the color most 
readily perceived (26th month). The percentages of right 
answers were : Yellow 82, green 77, red 72. Blue was then 
added, with the following result : Yellow 94, green 79, red 
70, blue 69. Trials made a week later with five colors 
resulted as follows : Yellow 100, violet 92, green 90, red 83, 
blue 42. Then, with six colors : Yellow 96, violet 95, red 
84, gray 83, green 74, blue 67 (26th and 27th months). 
Finally, two weeks later, trial was made with nine colors, 
resulting as follows : Yellow, gray, brown, and black 100, 
red 94, violet 85, green 36, rose 33, blue 23. Preyer carried 
these experiments a good deal further, and varied the 
method, but with substantially the same results. The sum- 
mary of all his tests up to the 34th month gives the follow- 
ing order of preferences : Yellow, brown, red, violet, black, 
rose, orange, gray, green, blue. When yellow and red were 
removed, the child showed less interest. Blue and green 
were avoided, and mostly named wrong, green being often 
called "garnix" ("gar nichts" = "nothing at all"). 

Binet made a number of experiments with a little girl 
from the 32nd to the 40th month, with results which I may 
epitomize as follows: 



14 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

1st series : Red 100, green 61, yellow 52. 

2nd series : Red 100, blue 92, maroon and rose 89, violet 
75, green 71, white 62, yellow 38. 

In these experiments, the child was required to point out 
the color named to her. The method was now reversed, 
and the child required to name the color pointed out to her. 
The result was as follows : 

1st series : Red 100, yellow 0. 

2nd series : Blue 100, red 96, green 82, rose 57, violet 54, 
maroon 50, white 45, yellow 28. (M. Binet says every time 
an error is committed with yellow, it consists in confound- 
ing it with green. He noticed also that violet was con- 
founded with blue.) 

Some remarkable differences may be noticed between the 
results of these two observers. For example, in the percep- 
tion of yellow : while Preyer's child perceived this color 
better than any other, Binet's little girl had the greatest 
difficulty with it. Also as regards blue : in the one case 
this color stands at the very bottom of the list, while in the 
other it is almost at the top. Miss Shinn, who observed her 
little niece, found that, while all the principal colors were 
easily distinguished by the end of the third quarter of the 
second year, the child had more difficulty with red than 
with any of the others. On the whole, however, the 
greatest uniformity obtains in the case of bright and glaring 
colors, such as red. This may have a physiological basis in 
the fact that when the eyes are closed in a bright light, red 
is the only color visible. 

In the foregoing experiments the child must know the 
names of the colors before the tests can be made ; and we 
can never be certain that the mistakes committed do not 
arise from confusion of words rather than of colors. On 
this account, the following tests made by Binet seem to me 
of far greater value. Instead of the *' methode d'appella- 



THE SENSES 15 

tion," as he calls the system just explained, lie adopted here 
the " methode de reconnaissauce," which consists in show- 
ing the child a counter of a certain color, then shuffling it 
together with a number of counters of that color and others, 
and requiring him to pick out a counter of that color. In 
this way the name is not used at all, and the test proceeds 
purely on the recognition of color. The results by this 
method were much more satisfactory. With three colors 
— red, green, and yellow — no mistakes were made ; and 
even with seven colors, and with an interval of time between 
the perception and the recognition, the errors were very few 
indeed. This seems to show that the child's chief difficulty 
is not in recognition of the color, but in association of the 
color with the sound of its name. 

The Color Sense in School Children. — The great prac- 
tical significance of the investigations into this subject war- 
rants us in giving a somewhat detailed account of it. Wolfe 
made experiments in color discrimination, on the school 
children of Lincoln, Nebraska, and reached the following 
results : White, black, and red were nearly always correctly 
named. Then, in the order of correct naming, came blue, 
yellow, green, pink, orange, and violet. Garbini tested six 
hundred Italian school children, in the sixth year of their 
age, and found that only 35 per cent were able cor- 
rectly to designate the six colors named above. Ziehen, 
experimenting with the boys of the normal school at Jena, 
used the colors red, yellow, green, blue, white, black, gray, 
and brown. He found that gray, green, and brown were 
named wrong or not at all. Lobsien made investigations 
on a number of girls from eight to fourteen years of age, 
with the seven prismatic colors. Dividing the pupils into 
six classes, according to age, he had them write down the 
names of the colors. The following table shows the results, 
in percentages of errors : 



16 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 



Class 


Age 


Kkd 


Yellow 


Oeange 


Blue 


Violet 


Indigo 


Green 


1 


13-14 








56 





31 


77 





2 


12 








78 





44 


94 





3 


11 





2 


80 





16 


44 


2 


4 


10 








98 





67 


95 


5 


6 


9 





2 


96 


2 


77 


98 


11 


6 


8 





19 


100 





100 


100 


20 



Eed stands first, being correctly named in every case ; 
then follows bkie ; yellow and green were less certainly 
known ; violet, orange, and indigo were misnamed most fre- 
quently, the girls of eight being entirely unable to name 
these colors. 

Engelsperger and Ziegler carried out a thorough investi- 
gation on the color sense of two hundred school children, of 
both sexes, in Munich. In order to test the ability of the 
child just entering school to distinguish colors, they used 
what they called the covering method (Deckungsmethode). 
They prepared small squares of colored paper, two for each 
of the colors used. The child was to lay one upon the other 
the papers that were of the same color. The experiments 
showed how different is the accuracy of discrimination in 
regard to the dilferent individual colors. White and black 
were quickly and surely recognized by all the children. 
Next to these came orange, lilac-purple, and rose. Still less 
accurately known were violet, light and dark blue, and 
blue-green. But orange, rose, and violet are among the 
colors with whose names the children are least familiar. Of 
the boys, only 36 per cent, of the girls 49 per cent, matched 
all the colors without error, an evidence of the superior 
color discrimination of the girls. 



THE SENSES 



17 



In order to test the ability of children just entering 
school to use color names for the color sensations, Engel- 
sperger and Ziegler employed also the naming method, with 
the following results : 





100 B0T8 


100 G1RL8 


COLOKS 


Correctly 
Named 


Incorrectly 
Named 


Correctly 
Named 


Incorrectly 
Named 


Black 

White 

Dark red 

Bright red 

Dark blue 

Bright blue 

Dark green 

Bright green 

Dark yellow 

Bright yellow .... 

Dark brown 

Bright brown .... 

Dark gray 

Bright gray 

Rose 

Violet 

Orange 


99 
99 

88 
82 
86 
83 
77 
79 
72 
68 
66 
64 
47 
49 
22 
3 


1 
1 
12 
18 
14 
17 
23 
21 
28 
32 
44 
46 
53 
51 
78 
97 


98 
98 
91 
86 
89 
90 
86 
84 
79 
78 
69 
66 
68 
63 
42 
4 
6 


2 
2 
9 
14 
11 
10 
14 
16 
21 
22 
41 
34 
42 
37 
58 
96 
95 



This table shows not only the order in which the colors be- 
come known, but also the superiority of the girls over the 
boys in color discrimination. 

Investigations on the color sense of American, Italian, 
and German school children show in general a uniformity 
sufficient to warrant some pedagogical inferences. First of 
all, the fact must be recognized that a considerable number 
of children just entering school cannot name correctly the 



18 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

principal colors, red, blue, yellow, and green. School instruc- 
tion, then, must take into account this defective color knowl- 
edge. The opportunity often presents itself of exercising 
the children in the discrimination and naming of colors. 
The modern drawing lesson, in which the element of color 
plays a prominent part, may contribute much to the educa- 
tion of the color sense. Again, in the teaching of geography 
and natural history, the knowledge of colors may be fur- 
thered in connection with the schematic drawings which are 
made by the teacher, with colored crayon, and by the pupils 
with colored pencil. Let the development of the color 
sense be neglected, and ignorance of colors will continue 
even into mature years. My own experience agrees with 
that of Virchow, who found it necessary every session to 
urge upon university students regular practical exercises 
with colors, as the majority of them were not able to desig- 
nate with certainty the finer shades of the commonest colors. 
I have observed not only in the lower, but also in the higher 
courses of our teacher-training schools a great uncertainty 
in the naming of colors. 

Color Blindness. — This must be distinguished from 
that ignorance of colors already referred to. The latter 
arises from lack of practice ; the former is an inborn and 
incurable condition. Color blindness consists in the inca- 
pacity to perceive colors normally and correctly. Its most 
frequent form is that in which red and green appear as yel- 
low. Investigations on color blindness in school children 
have already been carried out in different countries. Tests 
made in 1879 on nearly thirty thousand pupils in the vari- 
ous schools of the city of Boston showed that, of the boys, 
four in every hundred were in some measure color blind, 
while among the girls the proportion was less than one in a 
thousand. Holmgrene, observing Swedish children, found 



THE SENSES 19 

from 3 to 4 per cent color blind ; Hansen, in Denmark, 
2.6 per cent; Cohn, in Breslau, 4 per cent; and Schu- 
bert, in Nuremberg, 2.1 per cent. Engelsperger and Zieg- 
ler, among two hundred school children in Munich, found 
no case of color blindness. All investigations agree in 
showing that disorders of the color sense are much more 
common among boys than among girls. 

Objective Interpretation. — The understanding of the 
meaning of the visual sensation is the slowest in develop- 
ment of all the faculties connected with the eye. The sub- 
ject belongs indeed properly under the head of Perception 
and Judgment, and little need be said upon it here. 

To comprehend the distance and form of an object is an 
advance on the rudimentary " seeing " of the object ; but to 
understand what the object is, so as to distinguish it from 
other objects, and be conscious of a relation between it and 
the perceiving subject, constitutes a still further advance. 
The child attains this further advance slowly and painfully, 
at the cost of many tumbles and scratches, the result of 
errors in judgment that are sometimes pitiable, often comi- 
cal. Feeling and instinct render great service at this time, 
and often lead the child to do things which, on a casual 
view, might too readily be interpreted as the work of judg- 
ment ; as in the case of the child of less than a month who 
made a wry face at the sight of some bitter medicine. 

The first object to be recognized is usually the mother's 
face, which is greeted with a smile of pleasure by children 
only a few weeks old. But this first recognition is very 
vague and inaccurate, as is shown by the fact that the infant 
" recognizes " in the same way, at first, any other face which 
resembles hers in broad outlines ; and that when recognition 
of the father's face takes place, the child bestows his smile 
of welcome also on any other bearded gentleman who hap- 



20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

pens to come within his range of vision. For a long time, 
objects are not grasped as comprehensive wholes, but rather 
some striking feature is apprehended, and all else left out 
of account. Hence arise some of the very peculiar associa- 
tion groupings, which we shall notice in connection with 
language. From about the sixth month, however, evidences 
of intelligent comprehension of many of the more common 
objects may be observed. The smile or nod of the parents 
is distinguished from that of strangers, and responded to 
in a different manner. Visual impressions connected with 
food and clothing are quickly and surely recognized. Yet 
even much later than this, many mistakes are made. The 
child of a year and a half will try to pick up a sunbeam 
from the floor, to grasp his own reflection in the mirror, to 
pull a stream of water flowing from a sponge, as though it 
were a string. Even at the close of his second year, pic- 
torial representation is a great mystery to him, and he pre- 
fers the reality. Sigismund's boy, at two years, called a 
circle " plate," a square " bonbon," and his father's shadow 
*' papa" ; and Preyer's boy, much later than this, called a 
square " window," a triangle " roof," a circle " ring," and 
several dots on the paper " little birds." Pollock tells of a 
girl nearly two years old, who, on seeing a row of dots on a 
printed page, thus . . . . , cried out, " Oh, pins," and made 
repeated attempts to pick them out; and the girl F. was 
observed one day trying to "pick up" her father's white 
protruding cuff from what she supposed was the underlying 
coat-sleeve, as she attempted to grasp the cuff from that 
side, and seemed much surprised at her failure. 

Illusions and Hallucinations of the Sense of Sight. 
— The childish errors just described are normal, and dis- 
appear with the progress of mental development. But there 
may appear also in children sense illusions which are ab- 



THE SENSES 21 

normal, and depend upon an intensified irritability of the 
sense-areas of the cerebrum. In this pathological condition, 
either actual sensations are transformed and so illusioyis 
arise, or there are sensations not called forth directly by 
real external sense-impressions, in which case we speak of 
hallucinations. We find sight-illusion, for example, in the 
case of a girl in her seventh year, observed by Berner, who 
saw various unclean things in food that was perfectly pure, 
and so refused to eat it. We find sight-hallucinations in 
the seven-year-old girl observed by Ziehen, who, in attacks 
of illness, often saw mice, cats, dogs, and various other 
animals where none really existed. Children who suffer 
from illusions and hallucinations generally find it difficult 
or impossible to realize the deceptive nature of the presenta- 
tion. Both kinds of sense perception frequently appear in 
childhood, and they are especially likely to show themselves 
when the child is suffering from disease or extreme fatigue. 
The part they play in hysteria, epilepsy, and paranoia will 
be further described in the seventh chapter. 

II. Hearing 

The importance of hearing as a knowledge-giving sense 
would be difficult to overestimate. Besides being the chan- 
nel of a large part of our knowledge, and the medium of a 
vast amount of refined pleasure, the sense of hearing plays 
so large a role in the acquisition of language that a child 
who is perfectly deaf from birth does not learn to speak. 

Hearing in the New-born. — Czerney, in his experi- 
ments as to the comparative soundness of sleep at different 
times, was unable to use a sound stimulus with new-born 
children as he did with adults, because of their failure to 
react to sound-impressions; he was obliged, in their case. 



22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

to resort to electrical stimulation. Kroner assured himself 
by many experiments that the child, in the first week of 
his life, reacts distinctly to strong sound-impressions, and 
the very careful experiments of Moldenhauer confirm this 
conclusion. Mrs. Talbot says of one child that he was sen- 
sible to sound three hours after his birth. Sigismund saw 
the first evidences of hearing much later.^ Champneys 
could not elicit any response — by starting or otherwise — > 
during the first week, to any noise, however loud, unless 
accompanied by vibration other than air-vibration. Kuss- 
maul utterly failed to produce any impression in the first 
days, no matter how loud or discordant the noise. He be- 
lieves hearing sleeps most deeply of all the senses. But he 
quotes Herr Feldsbausch, to show that there was hearing in 
many cases from the third day. Genzmer found that almost 
all the children on whom he experimented, on the first day, 
or certainly on the second, reacted to impressions of sound ; 
but the reaction was unequal in different children. Dr. 
Deneke found one child of six hours who started and 
closed his eyes tighter at the sound of two metallic covers 
striking together; while Preyer observed one who did not 
react at all on the third day, and another who, on the sixth 
day, reacted only very slightly. Sully noticed, on the second 
day, a distinct movement of the head in response to sound, 
and this is confirmed by Professor Baldwin. Burdach de- 
clares the child hears nothing during the first week. 

On these the following observations are in place, and may 
help to the understanding of the discrepancies : 

(1) There is unanimity on one point: No one has suc- 
ceeded in proving that any child hears anything during the 

1 "Nach einigen (drei bis acht) Wochen sieht man das Kind bei plotz- 
lichem Gerausche zusammenfahren. Da erkennt mann klar, dass jetzt 
auch fiir die wahrnehmende Seele, das Hephata ! gesprochen ist." " Kind 
und Welt," p. 27. 



THE SENSES 23 

first hours. This corresponds to the physiological facts that 
the eustachian tube is not permeable, nor does air find its 
way into the middle ear until some little time after respira- 
tion has begun. Lesser's experiments show that the foetal 
conditions of the middle ear may indeed persist in the pre- 
maturely born more than twenty hours. 

(2) Starting in response to a loud noise may often be 
caused by vibrations which affect the whole body, and act 
as a nervous shock. Children are known to start on the 
slamming of a door, when they make no such response to a 
voice, however loud. No doubt, in the first case, the child 
feels the jar rather than hears the noise. 

(3) Any further discrepancies not resolved by these two 
considerations may be accounted for by the differences in 
maturity of different children at birth, and the varying 
rapidity with which the physiological adjustments are com- 
pleted. Generalizing, we may say that the period of begin- 
ning to hear varies, according to these circumstances, from 
the sixth hour to the third week. If, in the fourth week, a 
healthy, normal child makes no response to a loud sound 
behind him, there is reason to fear that he will be deaf and 
dumb. 

As regards localization of sounds, the ear does not render 
very much service in this, on account of its comparative 
immobility. Even in the adult, a sound made in the room 
above is with great difficulty distinguished from a sound 
made in the room below, unless some other circumstance 
enter in to assist in the determination. 

Champneys' child, on the fourteenth day, turned his head 
in the direction of his mother's voice, but this was probably 
due as much to feeling her breath upon his cheek as to 
hearing, since he did not do it when her face was turned in 
another direction. Leaving this observation, then, out of 
account, I find that the period in which children are first 



24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

observed to turn the head in the direction of sounds, extends 
from the tenth week to the seventeenth week. One child 
sometimes turned towards a sound in the sixteenth week. 
Another, at four months and ten days, " always turned his 
head exactly in the right direction." A third turned his head 
towards a sound for the first time in the eleventh week, and 
by the sixteenth week this movement had assumed all the 
certainty of a reflex, and still another, when five months 
old, on hearing the rumbling of the cars in the street, knew 
to which window to go to look for them. Schultze ob- 
served that active hearing, with attention, began after the 
first half-year. Not only are there these differences among 
different children, but in the same child the accuracy of 
localization becomes greater by exercise. The differences 
in time, noted above, are doubtless in part due to variations 
in the rapidity of the physiological development of the 
ear. 

By the end of the fourth month the normal child has 
made considerable progress in the understanding of the 
meariing of sounds, i.e., in the interpretation of sounds by 
their timbre. I find here also great differences in the 
results of the observations. Tiedemann's son took notice 
of gestures on the thirteenth day. Words would stop his 
tears or call them forth, according to the tone in which they 
were uttered. Another child, sixteen days old, would some- 
times leave off crying when his mother spoke soothingly to 
him At two months he distinguished between the loud 
bark of a dog and a coaxing yelp, being frightened by the 
former, but quickly soothed by the latter. A girl of three 
and a half months '* knows when she is being scolded." 
On the other hand, out of one hundred children observed, 
Dr. Demme found only two who, at three and a half 
months, knew their parents' voices. Another observer re- 
ports that at two months there was no apparent appreciation 



THE SENSES 25 

of ordinary sounds, but children of four and a half months 
sometimes recognized a voice. 

These differences are, no doubt, to some extent, due to 
heredity, and to some extent produced artificially in the 
life of the individual by exercise. The average child appar- 
ently begins to comprehend the meaning of tones from the 
second to the fourth month. 

A very interesting point in connection with the subject 
of the child's hearing is his power to ajypreciate music. So 
intimately associated is it with the development of his 
aesthetic nature, that it deserves the careful study of the 
psychologist and the educator. 

There are two chief sources of pleasure in music: the 
rhythmical movement and the melody — the time and the 
tune. With regard to the first, it seems safe to say that 
no healthy, normal child, after the first few weeks, fails to 
appreciate rhythmical movements. The fretful infant may 
be soothed by the gentle, regular movements of the mother. 
These first musical impressions have a physiological explana- 
tion. There seems almost to be a sense of rhythm. The 
succession of notes produces a flow of blood to the brain, 
and its energetic excitation redounds in lively sentiments 
and animated movements. Thus music responds to that 
need of muscular activity so strong in the child. The social 
instinct also enters here : the child takes more delight in 
noise and movement when some one is at hand to participate. 

As Konig has shown, however, it is only the most element- 
ary rhythmical forms (principally the dual movement, as 
found in the march) for which there is any innate liking. 
For the more complicated rhythmical movements but little 
appreciation is to be looked for even among older children. 
The triple rhythm is found first in those child songs that 
bear the marks of adult workmanship. 

With regard to the second point, the opinion may safely 



26 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

be ventured tliat no healthy, normal child is entirely lacking 
in musical " ear." I find no record of any child, who has 
been carefully observed, being utterly deficient in apprecia- 
tion of musical harmonies. In the vast majority of cases 
the opposite is the case. Children almost always, from a 
very early age, show a lively interest in music. In one 
observed case, a child of one month manifested delight in 
singing and playing. Sometimes children only two weeks 
old have been observed to stop the motions of their limbs, 
and apparently listen, when a piano was played in another 
room. From six or seven weeks onward, and especially 
in the latter half of the first year, the child's pleasure in 
music is often shown by a sort of accompanying muscular 
movements, which he seems unable to repress. The mother's 
song of lullaby is keenly appreciated, and somewhat later 
is even given back by the child in a most charming infant 
warble. The emotional element in the music is often keenly 
distinguished. Dr. Brown says of one of the infants ob- 
served by her in New York city, that when only five and a 
half months old, he would cry when his mother played a 
plaintive air; but would stop at once, and begin to jump 
and toss his arms about and laugh, if she struck into a 
lively melody. There seems to be, as some one has said, a 
sympathy between the ear and the voice which antedates 
all experience, and which is even to a large extent indepen- 
dent of normal brain-endowment. Even idiotic children 
(provided they are not deaf) who can speak only a few 
simple words and syllables, are able to sing, and in singing 
they employ other words besides those generally at their 
command. While all this is true, it should also be remem- 
bered that the child's cerebral and mental endowment is 
exceedingly plastic, and that consequently sounds which at 
first were disagreeable to him soon became tolerable and even 
pleasant. He accommodates himself to all sorts of noises 



THE SENSES 27 

with far greater facility than the adult, and soon comes to 
take great delight in any sort of rude, banging, grating 
sounds, especially if they are his own production. Hence 
there is no sense in the education of which greater care 
should be taken than the sense of hearing. As already 
said, probably all normal children are born with a capacity 
for musical appreciation, though of course not all in the 
same degree. Now in the early period — during the first 
four or five years of life — it is very easy to cultivate this 
musical capacity or to destroy it. If the child hears, every 
day, rasping, grating, and discordant noises, he will come 
very soon to like these as well as the most harmonious. It 
lies within the power of parents and teachers so to cultivate 
the child's capacity in this respect as to minister in an 
incalculable degree to the happiness of his life and the 
purity of his character. 

III. Touch 

Touch has been called the universal sense, because, while 
sight, hearing, etc., have each a special, local end-organ, 
touch has its end-organs in every part of the body, number- 
less nerves of this sense communicating with the brain from 
every portion of the skin. The importance of the touch- 
sense is, therefore, obvious. Some have gone so far as to 
call it the fundamental sense, and have endeavored to reduce 
all the others to it. Without going this far, we may 
readily recognize its importance in the mental development 
of the child, from recorded cases of children who, from birth 
or from an early age, have been deprived of the other senses, 
or the most important of them, and who have, nevertheless, 
almost by touch alone, reached a remarkable degree of 
intellectual and moral attainment. The field of the present 
inquiry is covered by two questions ; 



28 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

(1) As to the comparative delicacy of different parts of the 
body. (2) As to the education of touch perception. 

(1) Differences in sensibility to touch impressions among 
the different parts of the body are not so great at first as 
they afterwards become. From birth onward, the surround- 
ing medium becomes more and more varied, so that those 
parts of the body which are exposed to contact with the 
external world become relatively blunted in delicacy, while 
those which continue to be more or less protected — such as 
the eye and the tongue — retain more nearly their original 
sensitiveness. Nevertheless, the differences in delicacy 
among the different parts at the very first are surprisingly 
great. 

The upper surface of the tongue is exceedingly sensitive. 
Kussmau.1 introduced a small glass rod into the mouths of 
children just born, eliciting prompt responsive movements, 
which varied in character according to the part touched. 
When the rod touched the tongue near the tip, the lips at 
once protruded, the sides of the tongue curled up around the 
rod, and sucking movements followed. When the rod came 
into contact with the back part of the tongue near the root, 
all the responsive movements — expression of face, mouth 
motions, etc. — indicated " nausea." (Similar results were 
obtained by Kroner and Genzmer.) No doubt we have here 
a seusori-motor reflex established before birth. The same 
is true in the case of the lips, which share with the tongue 
an extreme delicacy from the first. Even the lightest touch 
of a feather produced sucking movements of the lips on the 
sixth day, and gentle stroking of the lips produced the 
same result on the fifth day, and even on the first day. 

One of the most sensitive parts of the body to touch 
impressions is the mucous membrane which lines the nostrils. 
This was observed to be sensitive on the first day of the 
child's life. According to Kussmaul, " Tickling of the inner 



THE SENSES 29 

surfaces of the wings of the nose with a feather calls from 
children first of all winking of the eyelids, stronger and 
earlier on the tickled side than on the other ; if the irritation 
be increased, the child not only knits the eyebrows, but 
moves the head and the hands, which latter it carries to the 
face." It appears, however, from the observations of the 
same authority, that this sensitiveness of the mucous mem- 
brane is formed only towards the end of the period of 
gestation, since similar experiments made on children 
born in the seventh month were without result. 

Cei-tainly next in order of delicacy — if indeed they should 
not have been placed earlier — come the various parts of 
the eye: the lashes, the conjunctiva and the cornea. Of 
these three, the lashes are considered by Kussmaul and 
Kroner the most sensitive to touch impressions. The former 
says : " The eyelashes are extraordinarily sensitive to even 
the faintest disturbances. If the child, when awake, has 
the eyes open, one can press with a glass rod even to the 
cornea before it will close the eyes ; but should only one of 
the little lashes be disturbed in the least, this closing of 
the eyes will take place at once. The disturbance of the 
eyelids is not so efficacious by far ; it will by no means be 
answered every time by eye-winking, as in the case of the 
cilia." He goes on to say that if one should blow through 
a small tube of twisted paper upon the face of an infant, 
winking will take place only when the stream of air has 
disturbed one of the cilia. Genzmer and Preyer differ from 
Kussmaul here, holding that the cornea is more sensitive 
than the lashes. These facts are interesting as bearing on 
the question of priority between sight and touch in the eye. 
It has been frequently noticed that the child does not for a 
good while hlink when a finger is thrust at the eye, provided 
it does not come into contact with it. Touch-reflexes seem,^ 
therefore, to be developed earlier than sight-reflexes. 



30 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

If the tip of the nose be touched, both eyes will be shut 
tight. If one side be touched, the child will generally close 
the eye on that side. If the irritation be increased, both 
eyes will be closed and the head drawn somewhat back. 
This is an inborn defensive reflex. 

If one tickles the palm of the hand of a new-born child, 
the fingers will close around the object with which it was 
tickled. The skin of the face seems even more sensitive 
still. On tickling the sole of the foot, active reflex move- 
ments follow, such as bending the knees and hip-joints, 
curling and spreading the toes, etc. The reaction time is 
longer, however, in infants than in adults, sometimes 
amounting to two seconds. Slaps also are more effective 
than pricks, some children showing comparative indifference 
to the latter. A greater number of nerve ends are stimu- 
lated by a slap, hence the more speedy reaction. The 
greater sensitiveness of the adult to sense impressions in 
general is due to his more advanced cerebral development, 
and not to any superiority in cutaneous or nervous adjust- 
ment. 

The other parts of the body are, speaking roughly, sensi- 
tive to touch impressions in the following order : The audi- 
tory canal (in the second quarter of the first year, the child 
observed by Prayer would instantly stop crying and become 
very quiet, if one's little finger were placed gently in the 
ear cavity), forearm, leg, shoulder, breast, abdomen, back, 
and upper part of thigh. 

(2) The susceptibility of the sense of touch to education 
is very great, as may be seen from the attainments of those 
who are born blind, the proficiency they attain in reading by 
touch, etc. As a knowledge-giving sense, it stands very high, 
contributing much to the child's first knowledge of the exter- 
nal world, and, together with sight and the muscular feel- 
ings, to his first comprehension of space and time relations. 



THE SENSES 31 

It aids greatly also in his acquirement of the notion of self 

— this probably at first through touching some portion of his 
own body, and then some external thing, and feeling a dif- 
ference between the resulting sensations. But even before 
active touch has thus begun, the foundations of the child's 
education are laid in passive touch experiences, which from 
the beginning not only yield him pleasure and pain, but, be- 
ing more frequent as well as more varied in their opera- 
tions, contribute earlier and more largely than any of the 
other sense experiences to the development of his faculties, 
and to his gradual acquaintanceship with the world of objects 
by which he is surrounded.^ 

IV. Taste 

According to Sigismund, taste is the first of all the senses 
to yield clear perceptions, to which memory is attached. 
The specially early development of this sense is doubtless 
due to the fact that its exercise is from the beginning con- 
nected in the closest way with the needs of the child and 
their satisfaction. 

Numerous careful experiments show that the child is ca- 
pable of bona fide sensations of taste in the earliest moments 
of life; and that, though he is for some time more obtuse and 
more uncertain in this respect than the adult, yet when a 
sapid object is introduced into his mouth, the resulting sen- 
sation really takes place by way of the gustatory bulbs and 
nerves, and is not merely a species of touch sensation, as 
some have held. 

Kussmaul experimented on twenty children, during the 
first day of life — some of them in the very first moments 

— with the following results: Solutions of sugar and of qui- 
nine being introduced into the mouth by means of a hair 

1 On this subject see Perez, ' ' Education Morale des le Berceau," Chap. V. 



32 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

pencil, — the mixture being warmed so that the feeling of 
temperature should not affect the result, — the children re- 
sponded with "the same mimetic movements which we desig- 
nate among grown people as the facial expressions of sweet 
and bitter. " They responded to the sugar by protruding the 
lips in a spout-like form, pressing the tongue between them, 
sucking and swallowing. On the contrary, when the quinine 
was introduced, the visage was distorted, the eyes closed, the 
tongue protruded, and choking movements were made, accom- 
panied by the expulsion of the fluid and active secretion of 
saliva. "Sometimes the head was actively shaken, as in 
the case of grown people when attacked by nausea." These 
results were obtained also in premature children, showing 
that this reflex arc is capable of performing its functions be- 
fore birth. He adds, however, that he found great individ- 
ual differences among children, some being far less responsive 
than others. Sometimes also the children seemed to make a 
mistake at first, as they occasionally responded to sugar by 
the mimetic movement for bitter, but this was probably only 
surprise at the new sensation, as they very soon changed it 
for the correct expression. He found also by these experi- 
ments that only the tip and edges of the tongue represent 
the tasting compass, the middle of the back part yielding 
no sensations of taste. 

Genzmer, experimenting on twenty-five children, most of 
whom were just born, obtained results substantially agreeing 
with those of Kussmaul. He noticed, however, that in many 
cases the introduction of an attenuated solution of quinine 
was responded to by sucking movements, while stronger so- 
lutions were rejected with the mimetic for "bitter," show- 
ing that taste sensibility is weaker at this age than in the 
adult. These results are corroborated also by Kroner, Feh- 
ling and several others. 

Preyer agrees with the above deductions in every respect, 



THE SENSES 33 

and adds : "It is certain from all observations that the newly- 
born distinguish the sensations of taste that are decidedly 
different from one another, — the sweet, sour and bitter." 
His boy, on the first day of life, licked powdered cane 
sugar, whereas he licked nothing else. Later, on receiving 
a strange food, he often shuddered and distorted his face 
merely on account of the novelty of the sensation, for, in 
the case of an agreeable sensation, he directly afterwards 
desired it, and received it with an expression of satisfac- 
tion. He concludes that the association of certain mimetic 
contractions of muscles with certain sensations of taste is 
inborn. 

The development of taste-perception in the infant is inter- 
esting and important. The pleasures and pains of taste play 
a large part in his early education. The mouth is soon made 
the test organ to which all objects are carried, and by which 
their qualities are ascertained. Preyer's boy, on the second 
day, took without hesitation cow's milk diluted with water, 
which on the fourth day he stoutly refused. During his 
sixth month, he began to refuse to take the breast (which 
was offered him only in the night), because the sweetened 
cow's milk, which he had taken in the daytime, was some- 
what sweeter. From this time onward, and especially after 
weaning, his discrimination became much nicer, and by the 
fourth and fifth years he had become so " fastidious " that even 
the sight of certain articles of diet would call forth from 
him the mimetic movements for nausea, choking, etc. 

Perez says the sense of taste is very slightly developed in 
the new-born, yet it exists. A child observed by him dis- 
tinguished milk from sweetened water, and sweetened water 
from plain water, by the taste. Yet there are great differ- 
ences of gustatory sensitiveness among children. In some 
cases, a child of six months has been induced to take bitter 
medicine by a change in the color. On the other hand, a 



34 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

child of two and a half months refused its bottle because the 
milk was not sweetened. Most children begin very early to 
detect the acid taste in certain substances. 

Yet, in general, children's tastes change very easily, and 
hence are highly susceptible to education in almost every 
direction. Moreover, there are differences in the same child 
at different times: the state of the health, the temperature of 
the food and many other circumstances entering in to disturb 
the gustatory equilibrium. 

Perversions op the Sense of Taste. — In many chil- 
dren there appears a peculiar fondness for unsavory things, 
such as earth, soap, ink, flies, etc. Ufer tells of a girl of 
eleven who used to drink the dirty, soapy water from the 
wash basin. He also saw a nine-year-old girl, the child of 
refined parents, sucking the head of a fish which she had 
taken from the dog's dinner dish. Some school children are 
in the habit of eating, in large quantities, pulverized chalk 
from the crayons, and the dust of the slate pencils. 

V. Smell 

Taste and smell are so closely associated that they might 
almost be considered together. The savor of substances 
depends, to a large extent, on their odor. These senses re- 
semble each other in the comparative diffuseness of their 
perceptions, and in the fact that their sensations are more 
persistent, and, therefore, less clearly distinguishable suc- 
cessively than those of the higher senses. 

In order to have sensations of smell, there must be air 
in the nasal cavities ; hence there can be no exercise of this 
sense before respiration begins ; none, therefore, before the 
beginning of the post-natal life. 

Careful tests upon new-born children, however, show that 



THE SENSES 35 

they are susceptible to strong odors in the first hours of life. 
Eecords are at hand of tests made on about fifty children, 
most of whom were less than a day, some only fifteen min- 
utes old. The tests were made with asafoetida, aqua foetida, 
and oleum dipelli. Care was taken to experiment on sleep- 
ing as well as waking children, in order to avoid mistakes 
in interpreting the gestures and facial expressions. The 
result was that the children became uneasy, knit the eyelids 
more firmly together, contracted the muscles of the face, 
moved the head and arms, and, finally, awoke, sometimes 
even with crying. On the removal of the odor, they would 
fall asleep again. These results were also obtained by 
Kussmaul in the case of premature children. 

With the child's growth, progress is normally made in 
power of discrimination by the sense of smell, though more 
slowly than in the case of the higher senses. A little girl 
of eighteen hours obstinately refused a nipple on which a 
little petroleum had been rubbed, but readily took the other. 
Another child refused cow's milk when it was brought near 
him. Another, at thirteen days, refused certain medicines, 
being guided solely by their odor. Decisive discrimination 
of pleasant from unpleasant odors, with rejection of the 
latter, and appreciation of the former, has been observed in 
numerous instances from the early part of the second month 
on ; and during the second half of the first year this dis- 
crimination has become, with some children, very marked 
indeed, a lively enjoyment of the scent of flowers often 
being noticeable from this time on. 

With all this, however, the sense of smell is far less 
acute in children than in adults. They often appear un- 
affected by odors which would be exceedingly unpleasant 
to the grown person. Further, their sensibility to smells 
very quickly becomes blunted by repetition or continuance, 
as is the case, to a less degree, with all persons. When 



86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

the experiments with asafoetida, etc., described above, were 
repeated, no responses could be elicited after the first or 
second trial. Even after the child has become keenly ap- 
preciative of odors, he seems utterly to lack that dexterity 
in the management of the organ which is so noticeable in 
the case of taste. Children well on in the second year of 
life may be observed to carry a fragrant flower to the mouth 
— and even into it — instead of to the nose. The same 
awkwardness is seen in the management of the breath. 
When learning to smell, they invariably exhale with great 
vigor at first, but require considerable practice before they 
can inhale the odors. 

Man seems greatly inferior to many of the lower animals 
in regard to smell. A kitten three days old " spat " at a 
hand which had been licked by a dog. The keenness of 
scent in dogs and horses, and many wild animals, is pro- 
verbial. In man, on the other hand, this sense stands very 
low in the knowledge-giving scale. Even in mature life it 
gives but little information respecting the external world, 
and that of an uncertain character. In the child, it is con- 
cerned chiefly with the recognition of food. But it may 
well be that if this sense were brought into as constant 
requisition as the sense of sight or hearing, and as much care 
bestowed upon its education, very important results might 
take place in the way of developing a smell-sensibility. 

Impeded Mental Development through Obstructed 
Nasal Respiration. — In the case of many children there 
are growths in the back part of the nostrils and in the 
throat, which hinder normal nasal breathing. The result is 
habitual mouth-breathing, leading to chronic catarrh. Not 
only is the sense of smell affected, but also the hearing, the 
articulation, and the supply of blood to the brain. A cer- 
tain retardation of the mental development necessarily 



THE SENSES 37 

follows, whose chief symptoms are, lack of ability to con- 
centrate the attention, diminished power to resist fatigue, 
and indistinctness of speech. Kasemann found, among Dan- 
ish school children, that 7.8 per cent of the boys and 10.6 
per cent of the girls suffered from impeded nasal respira- 
tion. One may judge from this, as to the frequency of the 
disorder. 

The teacher should take every possible precaution to 
prevent the development of these abnormal conditions in 
the school. For it is only too true that many children con- 
tract catarrh in the schoolroom. Dusty, chalk-filled air is 
very injurious to the membranous lining of the nose and 
throat. The words of Troltsch in this connection are worthy 
of attention : " Very vitiated and unhealthy air will be found 
frequently in schoolrooms, and it is not surprising that 
catarrh is so frequent, and affections of the ear so difficult 
to cure, among school children." Besides being careful to 
have pure air, free from dust, in the schoolroom, the teacher 
should also instruct the pupils in regard to taking breathing 
exercises in the fresher air outside. 

VI. Temperature 

There are two classes of thermic sensations : 1st, passive, 
subjective and general, as when we say "I am cold" or "I 
am warm." 2nd, active, objective and local, as when we 
touch a hot or cold object and pronounce it hot or cold. 
Both are important in the child's development, but the 
second sort lends itself to experiment more readily than 
the first. 

The sense of temperature should not be confounded with 
the sense of touch; for, though, like touch, it is universal, 
having its end-organs scattered all over the body, yet the 
feeling in the one case is quite distinct from that in the 
other. 



38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

In the newly-born, the sense of warmth and cold develops 
very promptly. The gradual cooling, on coming into con- 
tact with the external world, the atmosphere, the clothing, 
the bath, — all contribute to the speedy differentiation of 
thermic sensations, and to the perception of temperature. 
Genzmer, in experimenting upon about twenty new-born 
children, found that there was active withdrawal of the 
parts — palm of hand, sole of foot, cheek, etc. — to which 
the cold object was applied. His experiments are not en- 
tirely satisfactory, however, since sufficient care was not 
taken to exclude touch sensations from participating. 

Satisfactory observations as to the development of the 
temperature sense are very scarce. Preyer found that the 
warm bath was enjoyed almost from the first, but the cold 
bath was disliked until the child learned by experience its 
refreshing effects. The lips, tongue and mucous mem- 
brane of the mouth were surprisingly sensitive to warmth 
and cold, even in the first days. The child would refuse 
milk of a temperature only slightly higher or lower than 
that of the mother. Still, on the whole, the infant suffers 
less from extremes of temperature than the adult, in whose 
case the faculty of judgment enters to aggravate the 
sensation. 

An interesting point in this connection is the gradual 
variation between the "neutral point" in the tongue and 
cavity of the mouth, on the one hand, and the external 
parts, such as the hand, on the other. In the former it 
remains through life almost the same as before birth, while 
in the latter it gradually lowers by contact with the sur- 
rounding medium. 

VII. Organic Sensations 

By this is usually meant those comparatively vague and 
general feelings of comfort and discomfort arising from cer- 



THE SENSES 39 

tain conditions of the viscera, as distingnished from defi- 
nitely located feelings resulting from excitation of the 
special sense organs. Hunger and thirst may serve as ex- 
amples of visceral discomfort, and the feeling of satiety that 
follows the taking of nourishment as an example of visceral 
comfort. We shall also consider here feelings of pain in 
general, whether produced by external or internal stimuli. 

Kussmaul has made some observations which go to show 
that very soon after birth, from the sixth hour on, but vary- 
ing much in different children, the infant " is accustomed to 
betray distinctly that it is visited by a sensation which we 
must interpret as hunger or thirst, probably a mixture of 
both." This feeling is expressed by uneasy motions of the 
head and hands, sucking movements, and crying. One child, 
in the sixth hour of her life, would turn her head with sur- 
prising quickness, first to one side and then to the other, in 
order to take into the mouth and suck the finger with which 
the observer stroked her on each side of her face in succes- 
sion, though he took care that in stroking the finger should 
not touch her lips. 

Preyer observes that hunger and thirst assert themselves 
in sucking movements from the first. Very soon the cry of 
hunger is distinguishable from the cry of pain, being car- 
ried on with more intervals and in a lower tone, while the 
tongue is held in a peculiar manner, being drawn back and 
spread out. The hungry infant he also observed to move 
its head from side to side in a way not seen in any other 
circumstances. Gradually the child becomes relatively less 
absorbed in the satisfaction of hunger. From the fifth 
month, he can be diverted from eating by new noises and 
movements. From the tenth month, his eating is not so 
hurried and greedy. This is partly owing to the fact that 
at this age he takes more food at a time, the stomach being 
very much larger than at first. 



40 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

For the rest, but few observations have been made. The 
child experiences organic sensations of pleasure and pain 
(the pain possibly predominating in the earliest period) in 
connection with the digestive, respiratory and circulatory 
processes : pleasure in their normal functioning, pain when 
the organs are fatigued or diseased. Pleasures in general 
are expressed by the widely open and " swimming " eyes, by 
the smile, — which, according to Darwin, occurred for the 
first time as a real smile on the forty -fifth day, — and by 
"crowing," joyful tones of voice; pains by tightly closed 
eyes, mouth drawn down at the corners, and later by the 
quadrangular form of the mouth in crying, while the cry 
itself varies according to the cause. The child is much 
more easily fatigued than the adult, and during the first few 
days passes most of the time in sleep. 

VIII. Muscular Feelings 

We assume that in the normal condition all muscular 
movements are accompanied by muscular feelings. It is a 
sort of '' internal touch " spread all over the body, and 
intimately associated with locomotion and prehension, with 
expansion and contraction, with pressure, weight, resist- 
ance, etc. It also includes the " feeling of the state of the 
muscles when at rest." So closely connected with the 
child's activity, its bearing on the rise of will is obvious. 

The child is exceedingly active. To move his muscles is 
for him an absolute necessity, and the wisest methods in 
child training are those which recognize this fact, and, 
instead of repressing his activity, direct it into the best 
channels. 

Though muscular feelings are present early, they are 
probably very vaguely apprehended by the child during the 
first month of his life. By the end of the third month, 



THE SENSES 41 

however, a vast number of these feelings have become asso- 
ciated with visual sensations, by means of coordinated 
movements of the neck, arms and eyes. About this time 
also begins the discernment of weight, though the apprecia- 
tion and comparison of different weights are probably later 
attainments. The healthy child experiences the keenest 
pleasure in the exercise of his muscles. One observed case 
may stand for many. A little boy, in his fourth month, 
was observed to hold his toy rabbit up by the ears, crowing 
proudly, in evident enjoyment of the effort. It is likely 
that the muscular feeling of effort, by which weight is dis- 
cerned, is first discriminated in connection with the move- 
ments of respiration. 

From about the middle of the first year, the healthy child 
develops a remarkable propensity to seize, lift, pull, and 
otherwise handle all objects that come within his reach. 
This is to be attributed partly to natural curiosity, but more 
particularly at this early period to the constitutional need 
of exercising the muscles, to which he yields almost uncon- 
sciously. As soon as he is able to walk, the range of his 
muscle-activity is vastly extended, and from this time forth 
his experiences in this connection play a large and important 
part in his education.^ 

1 For further remarks on muscular movement, vide infra, Chap. IV. 



CHAPTER II 

THE INTELLECT 

Most of the phenomena described in the preceding pages 
involve thought in a greater or less degree; yet in the 
earliest experiences, mental activity is at a minimum ; the 
affective predominates over the presentative, and the repre- 
sentative occupies but a very small place. Yet it seems 
incorrect to say, with Nasse, that " mind comes first at birth, 
and the first breath is the earliest mark of intellect ; " or 
with Heyfelder, that the first cry is the sign of awakening 
mind ; or with Karl Vogt, that the newly-born possesses no 
trace of intelligence. Kussmaul seems nearer the truth in 
the following : " It cannot be doubted that man comes into 
the world with an idea — a dark one to be sure — of an outer 
something, with a certain idea of space, with the possibility 
of localizing certain touch sensations, and with a certain 
mastery over his movements. How can it otherwise be 
explained that the hungry child, before it is suckled, not 
only seeks nourishment, but seeks it in that region where 
its sense of touch during the search is actively excited? 
These astonishing actions can only be comprehended under 
the following suppositions : First, that the child has already 
gained the dim idea of an outer something which is able to 
remove the unpleasant sensation of hunger or thirst, and 
which, to that end, must come through the mouth ; secondly, 
that he is able to decide the place from which the sensation 
of stroking came ; and thirdly, that he has already learned 
42 



THE INTELLECT 43 

to turn the head voluntarily to the one side or to the 
other." 

It is not possible, within the present limits, either to give 
a detailed exposition of the nature of the thought process, 
or to trace the intellectual development on into the maturer 
years. For these the reader is referred to the numerous 
standard works on psychology in general. Here we can only 
attempt to collate facts calculated to throw light on the first 
budding of the intelligence, and to trace each phenomenon 
only to that stage at which it may be said to be fairly 
" under way." The intimate relation between thought and 
language also makes it advisable to postpone much that 
might be said here, until we come to the consideration of 
the latter topic.^ 

Observation of intellectual development is hampered by 
two difficulties, which render great caution necessary. In 
the first place, the combined influence of heredity and 
environment produces such wide individual differences 
among children, that no general conclusions can be safely 
expressed until a very large number of cases have been 
observed. In the second place, even the most careful ob- 
server, watching one child, is apt to be misled by certain 
deceptive appearances, and to give the child credit for a 
good deal that he does not really know. " They do clever 
things, and say brilliant words, by imitation and accident, 
not knowing the meaning of them." In this way many a 
child, supposed to be a prodigy, does not at all excel others, 
except in a quickness of imitation. When you want him 

1 The relation of thought and language has perhaps never been more 
aptly expressed than by Sir W. Hamilton in the following: "'Language 
is to the mind precisely what the arch is to the tunnel. The power of 
thinking and the power of excavation are not dependent on the word in 
the one case, nor on the mason work in the other ; but without these sub- 
sidiaries neither process could be carried on beyond its rudimentary 
commencement." Lectures, Vol. 8, p. 138. 



44 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

to " show off," he fails you, simply because the words do 
not mean the same to him as they do to you, and his use of 
them is largely mechanical. The child's act may resemble 
ours outwardly, but the sentiment underneath the act may 
be very different. G. S. Hall says : " Not only are children 
prone to imitate others in their answers, without stopping 
to think and give an independent answer of their own, but 
they often love to seem wise, and, to make themselves inter- 
esting, state what seems to interest us without reference to 
truth, divining the lines of our interest with a subtlety we 
do not suspect. On the other hand, the child of a retiring 
disposition may easily be underestimated by the superficial 
observer. In interpreting the phenomena here recorded, 
great care is necessary to avoid an inaccurate estimate of 
their intellectual value. 



I. Perception 

In the process of perception — which may be simply de- 
fined as " that act of the mind by which real external things 
become known through the senses " — there are three stages, 
distinguished from each other qualitatively, though not 
chronologically. First, the simple feelings of the senses 
are differentiated. Changes, quantitative and qualitative, 
are felt and known. The child recognizes the difference 
between a sweet taste and a bitter one, for example. He 
could not describe the difference even if he could speak, but 
is simply aware of it. Secondly, the sensations are local- 
ized. A definite " whereness " is attributed to them. This 
involves the recognition of space properties in objects, and 
opens up the vexed question of the origin of the idea of 
space, into which we need not enter here. Thirdly, the 
manifold of sensation, thus differentiated and localized, is 
unified into a permanent whole, which we call the object. 



THE INTELLECT 45 

The child combines the scattered sensations, visual, tactual, 
olfactory, and sapid, into the perceived object, /ooc?. 

Taste Perception's. — The first centre of the child's 
psychic life is the mouth, where taste, touch, and the muscle- 
sense cooperate in the acquisition of a knowledge of things. 
Probably the first action is sucking, and later all objects are 
experimented upon by means of the lips and hands together. 
But even in the third month, the child is weak in power of 
comparison, and will suck an empty bottle as readily as a 
full one, until he finds it is empty by failure to extract any- 
thing from it. From the eighth day, a wry face was made 
at the sight of bitter medicine, and by the seventh week 
this wry face was accompanied by a gesture of refusal. At 
one month and five days, a dose of medicine was taken with 
visible repugnance. The experiments of Kussmaul, already 
referred to, show that discrimination between tastes takes 
place from the first. It proceeds, generally, with consider- 
able rapidity from the third month on, and by the tenth 
month various articles of diet are clearly known and distin- 
guished from one another. Yet the child, like the adult, 
though in a greater degree, is subject to illusions of taste, 
through confusion of sapid with olfactory sensations, and 
with one another. 

Sight Perceptions. — During the first month, the child 
gives small evidence that he has any ideas of distance, or 
of his own body. At this age he will strike or scratch his 
own face. A girl of thirty days " seemed for an instant to 
have caught the reflected image of herself," but the next 
moment she became lost again in the surrounding objects of 
the nursery. A boy, during his second month, gave the 
first sign of distinguishing external objects from himself, 
by reaching forward and grasping at them. About the same 



46 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

time he began apparently to pay attention to the looks and 
gestures of others, and at six months he distinguished per- 
sons, without, however, having any clear ideas about them. 
When anything presented itself to him, he pointed his 
finger at it to direct attention to it, and sometimes said 
ah. From the beginning of his second year, he rapidly 
advanced in power of discrimination, though chiefly among 
objects fitted to satisfy his needs. One of the objects ear- 
liest to be recognized — if not the very earliest — is the 
mother's face and form. Children give evidence of this 
recognition in the second or third month. A boy of seven 
months "surely recognized three persons," — his parents 
and the nurse. Another, at nine weeks, seemed to know 
his mother. No objects, not even the parents, are known 
at a distance. In the course of the first half-year, much 
improvement takes place in this direction. A child in his 
fifth month would no longer grasp at objects beyond his 
reach. Smiling at the image in the mirror has been 
noticed as early as the ninth week. 

" From the sensations of hearing and smell, there can be 
formed no representations in the first week." Near the 
end of the second month, one child gave evidence that he 
distinguished between tones of voice expressive of different 
emotions and sentiments. He allowed himself to be pacified 
by gentle tones. Another, in his third month, actively 
sought the direction of sound by turning his head. 

Owing to the weakness of the attention, and lack of 
experience, the young child falls into many illusions of 
sense-perception. A child of four months believes the 
image in the mirror is a real person, as is shown by his sur- 
prised look when he hears behind him the voice of the 
individual to whom the reflection belongs. A boy of seven 
months put out both hands to pick up a very small piece of 
paper. At six months he mistook a flat dish for a globe, 



THE INTELLECT 47 

and seemed to believe all objects had bulk. The little girl 
F. tried one day to " pick up " a round picture, which was 
made to represent raised work, and another day she tried to 
walk on the water. I once heard a little girl of one year 
and a half call the moon a lamp, showing how false was her 
idea of its real distance and magnitude. 

Children are said to be peculiarly subject to illusions of 
hearing, though I have no examples to give. The imperfec- 
tion of their judgments by the muscular sense is shown by 
the fact that a child of three months cannot tell a full bottle 
from an empty one, by the weight alone. 

II. Memory 

The power of retaining impressions, and recognizing them 
when reproduced, has a physiological as well as a psycho- 
logical aspect ; the former consisting chiefly in the suscep- 
tibility of organic structures to receive impressions which 
are capable of a greater or less degree of permanency ; the 
latter depending principally on the power of attention. 
Where the attention is actively directed towards the present 
sensation, that sensation is more easily and more surely 
reproduced in memory. 

Little children have but small power of attention ; from 
the psychological side, therefore, their memories are weak. 
Nearly all the experiences of the first two years of life, and 
the vast majority of those of the next four, are completely 
forgotten by most people. The cerebral structures in chil- 
dren, however, are very impressible, so that, from the 
physiological point of view, the memory of childhood is 
potentially, at least, very strong. This probably accounts 
for the well-known fact that those experiences of childhood 
that are remembered, are more firmly fixed and persist 
longer than those of early manhood or middle age. Let the 
attention of a little child — which, be it observed, is weak 



48 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

in both directions, being as hard to withdraw from a present 
sensation as it is to direct towards one — be enchained by- 
some startling or fascinating experience, and an impression 
is made on his plastic mind which can never be effaced.^ 
Old men recall the events of fifty years ago better than 
those of last year. 

The little child is capable of memories long before he has 
learned to speak. A little boy, six months old, whose hand 
had been slightly burnt by a hot vase, shrank back at the 
sight of this article a few days after. Certain faces, too, 
are recognized by children of this age, showing that they 
have memory-images of them. Strange faces, too, are known 
as strange, and distinguished from familiar ones ; but the 
latter are not yet missed when absent. Sigismund gives 
an interesting case of memory in a boy about eight months 
old. While in the bath he tried repeatedly to raise himself 
up by the edge of the tub, but in vain. Finally he suc- 
ceeded by grasping a handle, near which he accidentally 
fell. Next time he was put into the bath, he reached out 
immediately for the aforesaid handle and raised himself up 
in triumph. Memory of persons becomes strong by the end 
of the first year. A child of this age recognized her nurse, 
after six days' absence, " with sobs of joy." A boy some- 
what younger knew his father after four days' absence, 
while another, seven months old, did not recognize his nurse 
after four weeks' absence, but when nineteen months old he 
knew his father, even at a distance, after two weeks' separa- 
tion. Another child, four months old, knew his nurse after 
four weeks, and at ten months he missed his parents, and 
was troubled by their absence. A boy of twenty-three 

1 My first sight of a locomotive will never, I believe, be effaced, or even 
bedimmed, in my memory, should I live for a century. To-day I can call 
it up with remarkable vividness, and with all its attendant circumstances 
clearly and definitely portrayed. 



THE INTELLECT 49 

months manifested keen delight on again seeing his play- 
things after an interval of eleven weeks ; and when a year 
and a half old, was greatly disconcerted one day when sent 
to carry one towel to his mother, where he had been accus- 
tomed to carrying two. Darwin's boy, at a little over 
three years of age, instantly recognized a portrait of his 
grandfather "and mentioned a whole string of incidents 
which occurred at their last meeting, nearly six months 
previous," the matter not having been mentioned in the 
meantime. The little boy R. recognized a young lady who 
lives next door, after a few weeks of absence. He also 
knew me after nearly three weeks. He was then twenty- 
three months old. 

A boy one year and a half old heard some one say one day 
that another boy had fallen and hurt his leg. Some days 
after, the second boy came in, whereupon the first ran up to 
him, exclaiming, " Fall, hurt leg." A child of two years, 
whose mother had made him a toy sled out of a card, on 
receiving a postal card at the door some days after, ran with 
it to his mother, crying, "Mama, litten" (Schlitten, sled). 

New experiences call up memories of old experiences by 
association, and in this way events that occurred prior to 
the period of learning to speak are remembered after that 
time. A little boy of my acquaintance related the following 
tale, the events of which took place before he learned to 
speak: "Pussy kime on table; pull Nonie off (i.e., Nonie 
pulled her off) ; pussy katch Nonie face, hands too." This 
was illustrated by gestures, showing the process of scratching. 
Another boy, three years old, remembered perfectly well 
and would imitate his own awkward attempts at speaking. 

A very interesting question in this connection is this : 
Which of the senses furnishes the most vivid and lasting 
memory-images ? The first impulse would probably be to 
attribute the preeminence to sight, but in so doing, we might 



50 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

make a mistake. It is probable, as M. Queyrat seems to 
think, that the muscular sense is of paramount importance 
here. Children are full of action, and their psychic life 
is bound up with movement. If they are to develop, they 
must do something, and they remember what they do a 
thousand times better than what is told or shown to them. 
This is also true in adult life. Many persons study out 
loud. We remember what we lorite, better than what we 
simply read. Pedagogy is now recognizing this as a great 
principle in education, and the whole kindergarten system 
is based upon it. 

In connection with hearing, the child remembers best 
some connected story which is helped out by gestures 
appealing to the eye. The little boy C, at twenty-five 
months, reproduced after his own fashion the story of Little 
Eed Riding Hood (having heard it only once, and that the 
night before) with abundant gesture, and then laughed in 
great glee. 

An interesting experiment in this direction is reported 
by Baldwin in Science for May 2nd, 1890. The child was six 
and a half months old. Her nurse had been absent three 
weeks. On returning she first appeared before the child 
without speaking, then she spoke without appearing. In 
neither case was she recognized. But when she appeared 
again, and sang a familiar nursery rhyme, the child recog- 
nized her with demonstrations of joy. This is a good 
example of the " summation of stimuli," or the cooperation 
of different sensations, reinforcing each other, to produce a 
result which neither could accomplish by itself. 

The Memory in School Children. — Great interest at- 
taches to the investigations that have been carried on re- 
garding the memory by Bolton, Calkins, Kirkpatrick, 
Hawkins and W. Lay in America; by Kemsies, A. Lay, Lob- 



THE INTELLECT 51 

sien and Pohlman in Germany ; by Winch in England ; by 
Binet and Henri, Vaschide and Vurpas in France ; and by 
Netschajeff in Russia. The latest and most comprehensive 
investigation is that by Pohlman, on which account we refer 
to it in particular. The materials employed were partly 
meaningless, such as letters of the alphabet, numbers, and 
meaningless words, and partly intelligible, such as abstract 
and concrete substantives, both one-syllabled and many-syl- 
labled, foreign words, sentences and prose paragraphs. The 
presentation and assimilation of this material can be accom- 
plished acoustically through speech, or visually ; or the two 
processes may be combined. 

These investigations have shown that the power of memory 
increases with the age of the pupil, in opposition to the com- 
mon opinion that this power is greatest from the beginning 
of school life until the tenth or thirteenth year, and then 
decreases. The experiments seem to show, on the contrary, 
an increase of memory power up to the twentieth year, be- 
yond which no systematic investigations have as yet been 
undertaken. It has also been proven experimentally that 
exercise plays a great part in the development of the mem- 
ory, that girls decidedly surpass boys in the ability to mem- 
orize, that the memory for concrete objects is much stronger 
than for verbal impressions, that in the earlier stages of 
life the capacity is greater for acoustic material, in the later 
stages for visual material, and that the combination of 
auditory and visual impressions produces only a small advan- 
tage. Reference may also be made to the fact that different 
pupils show different kinds of sensuous memory, inasmuch 
as some learn more easily through the eye, and others 
through the ear. 

Disorders of Memory. — The teacher should know that 
children, as well as adults, may be troubled with abnormal 



52 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

or pathological forgetfulness, in addition to natural or 
physiological forgetfulness. In such cases even the most 
recent impressions are retained only slightly if at all. Even 
in the early morning, or at the beginning of the lesson, these 
children are incapable of reproducing what they have learned. 
This condition seems connected with a curious excitement, 
whose cause cannot be discovered. In such children mo- 
mentary forgetfulness appears very frequently and with 
remarkable intensity. Pathological memory-weakness in 
children accompanies melancholia, paranoia, neurasthenia 
and imbecility, which will be dealt with more fully in the 
seventh chapter. 

III. Association 

Memory and imagination proceed in accordance with the 
laws of association. The chief of these are resemblance, 
contiguity and contrast. The general principle of associa- 
tion has been expressed in this way : " When, for any 
reason, a part of an old mental movement is reinstated, 
there is a tendency for the whole movement to reinstate 
itself." The physiological under-structure of association 
scarcely exists at birth, but gradually, through experience, 
dynamic pathways in the cerebral substance are developed, 
constituting an associative network, connecting the various 
centres with one another. On the mental side an increasing 
readiness to note resemblances, differences, etc., and to note 
them where they are less obvious, is developed in the course 
of experience. 

In Mr. Darwin's opinion, the child far surpasses the lower 
animals in associative power. " The facility with which 
associated ideas . . . were acquired, seemed to me by far 
the most strongly marked of all the distinctions between 
the mind of an infant and that of the cleverest full-grown 
dog I ever saw." 



THE INTELLECT 53 

The recorded observations on this point show great in- 
dividual dilferences. Champneys saw signs of association 
of pleasurable feelings as early as the eighth week, when the 
child accompanied a smiling expression with sucking motions 
of the lips. Tiedemann thought he saw traces of association 
on the eighteenth day, when the child ceased crying and put 
himself iato the attitude for taking nourishment when a soft 
hand came into contact with his face. Sully observed a 
similar thing at ten weeks. Darwin, on the contrary, did 
not notice any signs of associations firmly fixed before the 
fifth month ; and Taine puts it as late as the tenth month ; 
while Perez believes that homogeneous sensations are, by 
the middle of the first month, associated to such a point 
that they are recognized when reproduced ; and he goes on 
to say that " there is not one of the combinations of associa- 
tions, which have been studied so carefully by psychologists, 
of which we cannot find at least a faint foreshadowing in a 
child of six or seven months." 

The following are examples of association by contiguity : 
When a little child's hat and cloak are put on, or he is 
placed in his carriage, he becomes restless, and even angry, 
if not immediately taken out. This has been observed in 
children less than half a year old, and in others of one 
3^ear. At the latter age the association is much stronger ; 
he cannot even see a hat, cloak or umbrella without mani- 
festing the same restlessness. Probably also, as Perez 
thinks, we may see in the child's crying for food on the 
return of daylight the germ of association by succession, 
out of which is constructed the idea of time. A rudimen- 
tary notion of cause and effect may also be seen in the babe 
of half a year or thereabouts, who, having been once burnt 
by a hot object, afterwards draws back at the sight of it; 
and in the child who, finding a peculiar scratching sound to 
follow the passage of his finger nail over an object, repeats 



54 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

the process again and again, until he has clearly established 
the relation between the motion and the sound. Con- 
tiguity in the form of coexistence is seen in the following : 
At seven months, the person of the nurse was associated 
with the sound of her name ; when her name was uttered, 
the child would turn round and look for her. The same 
thing was observed in another child five months old. 
Darwin's boy, at nine months, associated his own name 
with his image in the mirror. When ten months old he 
learned that an object which caused a shadow to fall on the 
wall in front of him, was to be looked for heliiyid. When 
less than a year old, it was sufficient to repeat a short sen- 
tence two or three times at intervals, to fix firmly in his 
mind some associated idea. 

Resemblance, if not the earliest, is certainly among the 
strongest of the child's associations. Darwin's child, in the 
second half of his first year, would shake his head and say 
ah to the coal-box, to water spilt on the floor, and to such 
things as bore a resemblance to things which he had been 
taught to consider dirty. Another boy, nine months old, on 
hearing the word " papa," would hold out his arms to another 
gentleman who resembled his father ; and a little girl of 
this age knew the portrait of her grandfather as it hung on 
the wall. Sigismund says: "I showed my boy — not yet 
one year old — a stuffed woodcock, and said * Vogel.' He 
immediately turned his eyes to another part of the room, 
and looked at a stuffed owl which stood there." Taine's 
little girl, at fifteen months, on seeing colored pictures of 
birds, immediately cried out hoko, which was her name for 
chicken. The little boy C, on seeing the image on a postal 
card, at once made a peculiar snuffing noise, which his 
grandfather was in the habit of doing, showing that he 
observed a resemblance between his grandfather and the 
picture on the card. 



THfil INTELLECT 65 

For resemblances among sounds, children in general have 
the keenest relish. They are inveterate punsters. Rhymes 
and alliterations are their especial delight. They will catch 
the faintest link of resemblance in the sounds of words. 
^^ Harry O'Neil is nicknamed Harry Oatmeal, . . . October 
suggests knocked over, and from do re me, they get do re 
you." Mere jingles, tiresome to the grown-up person, will 
amuse them for hours ; such as " Ene, mene, mine mo," etc., 
or, "Dickory, dickory, dock," etc. 

When the child learns to speak, the power of association 
by resemblances, in his mind, is exemplified in his habit of 
enlarging the denotation of words, so as to make one word 
do duty for several objects which resemble each other in 
certain respects. The discussion of this will be resumed 
later (infra, Section 5 and Chap. V.). 

Associative Connections in School Children. — 
Ziehen was the first to experiment on the association of ideas 
in children. He carried on his investigations on boys from 
eight to fourteen years of age, belonging to the practice 
school of the Pedagogical Seminary of the University of 
Jena. He called out to the children words arbitrarily se- 
lected, and required them to say, as promptly as possible, 
" whatever occurred to them first." The experiments, car- 
ried on for more than two years, yielded the following re- 
sults : In the children's minds concrete representations 
predominate over abstract, and simple over complex. The 
association of ideas which rest directly on the simultaneity 
of the underlying sense-impressions and the feeling-tone of 
the ideas, plays the chief role in determining the course of 
the ideas. Association of judgments is not so prominent as 
in the adult. The rapidity of the association of ideas 
fluctuates within wider limits in the child than in the 
adult. 



5Q THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Disorders of Association. — Even though no sharp line 
can be drawn between the normal and the abnormal rate of 
association, yet it is easy to recognize the pathological accel- 
eration of the ideational process (idea-rout) and its patho- 
logical retardation (thought-impediment). These two are 
formal disorders, as distinguished from disorders of content, 
which have to do with the relation between the association 
of ideas and the facts of the external world. The latter are 
either fixed ideas or hallucinations. 

Idea-rout may be presumed ia a child, if he speaks with 
abnormal rapidity, though without disorder in the content 
of the ideas. If the acceleration in the passage of ideas be 
not the effect of feelings of pleasure, then it is pathological. 
As an example of idea-rout of a pronounced type, take the 
utterance of a thirteen-year-old girl observed by Ziehen: 
''Ilmenau is a higher elementary school. There are two 
thousand children there. Ilmenau belongs to the Grand 
Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach ; and to the forest prin- 
cipality Meiningen. Ilmenau is a country-stream and brook. 
Ilmenau belongs to the world ; to the great world ; Ilmenau 
does not belong to us, to Saxony-Meiningen, Gotha, Arnstadt, 
Orlamtlnde, Frankfort-on-the-Sea, Dead Sea, Mediterranean 
Sea. Ilmenau is known among all classes ; first class, second 
class, up to the ninth class." Parallel with the acceleration 
of the association of ideas there is also in idea-rout a marked 
rapidity of all movements and actions. Idea-rout appears 
most frequently in cases of mania, which we shall discuss 
fully in the seventh chapter. 

In Thought-imj)ediment the child answers questions slowly 
or not at all. An extraordinary amount of time is required 
for the lightest school tasks. Physical activities also are 
very slowly accomplished. In order to distinguish thought- 
impediment (which occurs chiefly in cases of melancholia 
and neurasthenia) from the weakmindedness of imbecility 



THE INTELLECT 67 

(see Chap. VII.), present behavior should be compared with 
that of an earlier age. The child suffering from thought-im- 
pediment may have been, at an earlier age, a very apt scholar ; 
whereas the weakminded child has always shown but small 
capability. In thought-impediment the mental associations 
are present, but they require a longer time for their repro- 
duction; in weakmindedness the associations are lacking, 
and so cannot be reproduced. The child affected in this way 
may often be seen to pass his hand over his forehead. The 
teacher should clearly understand that when a child loses 
ground markedly, the cause is not always indolence ; in some 
cases it is due to an abnormal retardation of the process of 
ideation. 

In the case of Fixed Ideas there are absurd associations 
whose falsity the child himself sees. These false associations 
force themselves upon him against his will. They may take 
many forms. A boy observed by Westphal did not like to 
go through his father's office, because here the thought would 
come to him that he might be accused of stealing papers. 
Wille reports that a twelve-year-old boy suffered from the 
fixed idea that he might start a fire by means of the phos- 
phorus on the matches. Then the idea of getting something 
noxious through his food tormented him, so that he felt 
compelled to examine all that he ate with extreme care. 
Whenever he went upon the street the thought came to him 
that a window shutter, or a tile from the roof, might fall 
upon him or others, and kill them. If he saw an opening 
in the street, he feared that he and others might fall into it ; 
and this troubled him to such a degree that he went to the 
police for protection. Westphal observed a thirteen-year- 
old boy who never seized a metal door latch with his hand, 
but always used his elbow, because, '' there might be verdi- 
gris on it." For the same reason he did not like to drop a 
letter into the post box. He always washed his hands after 



58 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

writing, lest there should be ink upon them, which might 
injure him. Krafft-Ebing reports of a thirteen-year-old girl 
that she could not abstain from thinking on the problem of 
the Trinity. How it could be possible for three persons to 
be united in one ; why God had to sacrifice his Son, and 
make him suffer, for the redemption of sinful humanity, 
seeing that he in his omnipotence could have made all men 
good from the beginning ; how God's Son became man ; and 
what the meaning of certain religious customs could be. 
Fixed ideas appear very frequently in neurasthenic children. 
In most cases they disappear in process of time, though in 
some cases they develop into insanity. 

Hallucinations are also false associations of ideas, but in 
this case the child cannot be convinced of their absurdity. 
Hallucinations take many forms ; such as the ideas of sick- 
ness or of persecution ; less frequently the idea of greatness, 
or of sin. Steiner reports of a six-year-old boy, whose sister 
died of inflammation of the cerebral tissues, that day and 
night he was tortured by the thought that he too must die of 
this disease. In every cough he detected the beginning of 
the dreaded malady. If he discovered any little pimple on 
his skin, he believed he had a dangerous eruption. Neither 
by argument, nor by diversion, could the hallucination be 
dispelled. Maudsley observed a fourteen-year-old girl who 
when excited would cry out, " Mother, I am dying." An 
eleven-year-old boy, treated by Glintz, used to listen behind 
the curtains, and when questioned, would say that the police 
wanted to catch him and have him punished at school. He 
avoided his father, hid himself from every stranger, went 
in a constrained way to his meals, ate sparingly, would spit 
out morsels of food frequently, and examine minutely the 
rest of the food on his plate. He showed distrust of all 
men, and suspicion of every action on the part of his own 
family. Meschede declares of a five-year-old girl that she 



THE INTELLECT 59 

believed that her little sister would insult and slander her, 
that she had thrown a stick of wood at her and had beaten 
her with a whip. She repeatedly complained that her mother 
had put crumbs in her bed. She had the idea firmly fixed 
that some one wanted to steal her and her sister ; on this 
account she used to beg her mother to carefully fasten the 
door. A thirteen-year-old girl, observed by Moller, was cer- 
tain that immeasurable wealth and splendid castles belonged 
to her. Henoch says of a ten-year-old girl that she posed 
as a princess, and demanded from her relatives corresponding 
services. A mentally weak boy observed by Ziehen used 
to say to himself, " I am so bad, no one can love me." 

Hallucinations appear more especially in cases of paranoia, 
of which they constitute the chief symptom ; but they may 
occur also in mania, melancholia, congenital imbecility, 
neurasthenia and hysteria. 

IV. Imagination 

There are two species of imagination. First, the passive, 
in which, without the exercise of active attention, or any 
effort of will, images pass and repass, arranging and 
rearranging themselves in the phantasy. This is exempli- 
fied in dreams, and in the resuscitation of faded memory 
images in the waking moments by the laws of association. 
Secondly, the active or constructive imagination, in which, 
by an effort of attention and will, old images are worked up 
into new forms, inanimate objects have life and personality 
attributed to them, and curious scenes and combinations are 
produced by the inventive genius of the person imagining. 

With regard to the first, Perez says : " The child, hardly 
a month old, who recognizes his mother's breast at a very 
short distance, shows, by the strong desire he has to get to 
it, that this sight has made an impression on him, and that 



60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

this image must be deeply engraven on his memory. The 
child who, at the age of three months, turns sharply round 
on hearing a bird sing, or on hearing the name coco pro- 
nounced, and looks about for the bird cage, has formed a 
very vivid idea of the bird and the cage. When, a little 
later, on seeing his nurse take her cloak, or his mother wave 
her umbrella, he shows signs of joy, and pictures to himself 
a walk out of doors, he is again performing a feat of 
imagination. In like manner, when, at the age of seven or 
eight months, having been deceived by receiving a piece of 
bread instead of cake, on finding out the trick, he throws 
the bread away angrily, we feel sure that the image of the 
cake must be very clearly imprinted on his mind. Finally, 
when he begins to babble the word papa at the sight of any 
man whatever, it must be that the general characteristics 
which make up what he calls papa are well fixed in his 
imagination." When they are left alone, children who have 
acquired the word "mamma" will repeat this name over 
and over again, proving the presence of the mother's image 
in the imagination. 

One of the most significant forms of the passive imagina- 
tion in childhood is the dream. It is very difficult to ascer- 
tain when the child first begins to dream, and this for 
several reasons. The child who can talk will "tell his 
dreams," in imitation of grown-up people, no dream having 
taken place. In the case of the child who cannot talk, we 
have very little reliable information to go upon. But there 
seems no reason to doubt that dreams may take place just as 
soon as the child's waking experiences have furnished him 
with clear and definite sensations. 

As for the constructive imagination, our space will not 
admit the hosts of examples that might be given of the 
wonderful fertility of children's minds in this respect. 
Their little wooden toys become transformed into real sol- 



THE INTELLECT 61 

diers, fighting real battles, mighty locomotives drawing long 
trains of heavily laden cars, or great steamships sailing over 
unfathomable oceans. " Given a few broken pieces of glass, 
a flower, a fruit, a colored string, a doll, and out of them 
the baby imagination constructs an immeasurable happi- 
ness."^ Indeed it would seem, as Jastrow says, that the 
function of toys is to serve as " lay figures, on which the 
child's imagination can weave and drape its fancies." In 
order to serve this purpose, the toy does not need to be 
a work of art. "We don't like buyed dolls," says little 
Budge, in " Helen's Babies," and in so saying, he seems to 
voice the opinions of the majority of children. A wax doll 
is a nice thing to have, and look at occasionally, but for 
real, "sure enough," every-day play, give us the old rag 
doll.2 

Children in their plays imagine themselves other than 
they are. They transform themselves into kings and 
queens, professors and preachers, fathers and mothers and 
grandparents, and fulfil all the functions of neighbors and 
citizens with the greatest solemnity and dignity. They 
surround themselves with imaginary personages, and carry 
on imaginary conversations.^ 

I shall close this section with a quotation. W. W. Newell, 
in " Games and Songs of American Children," says : " Observe 
a little girl who has attended her mother for an airing in 

1 See " The Story of a Sand Pile," by G. S. Hall, in Scribner's Magazine 
for June, 1888. 

2 The same thing holds with regard to pictures. I have seen a copy of 
a German picture-book for children, which is almost completely lacking in 
artistic excellence, but which has gone through one hundred and seventy- 
seven editions. A movement is now on foot in Russia to prohibit the im- 
portation of the finely fiuished and elegant French toys, on the ground 
that they leave no room for the exercise of the child's imagination. 

8 " One of the greatest pleasures of childhood is found in the mysteries 
which it hides from the scepticism of the elders, and works up into small 
mythologies of its own." Holmes, " The Poet at the Breakfast Table." 



62 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

some city park. The older person, quietly seated beside 
the footpath, is half absorbed in reverie; takes little notice 
of passers-by, or of neighboring sights or sounds, further 
than to cast an occasional glance, which may inform her of 
the child's security. The other, left to her own devices, 
wanders contented within the limited scope, incessantly 
prattling to herself; now climbing an adjoining rock,, now 
flitting like a bird from one side of the pathway to the other. 
Listen to her monologue, flowing as incessantly and musi- 
cally as the bubbling of a spring; if you can catch enough 
to follow her thought, you will find a perpetual romance 
unfolding itself in her mind. Imaginary persons accom- 
pany her footsteps ; the properties of a childish theatre exist 
in her fancy; she sustains a conversation in three or four 
characters. The roughness of the ground, the hasty passage 
of a squirrel, the chirping of a sparrow, are occasions suffi- 
cient to suggest an exchange of impressions between the 
unreal figures with which her world is peopled. If she 
ascends, not without a stumble, the artificial rockwork, it is 
with the expressed solicitude of a mother who guides an 
infant by the edge of a precipice; if she raises her glance 
to the waving green overhead, it is with the cry of pleasure 
exchanged by playmates who trip from home on a sunshiny 
day. The older person is confined within the barriers of 
memory and experience, the younger breathes the free air 
of creative fancy." 

Hyperphantasy. — The activity of the imagination, even 
in perfectly healthy children, fluctuates between wide limits; 
in some children it shows a much greater degree of vivacity 
than in others. Moreover, in some it operates chiefly in the 
realm of visual ideas, while in others it prefers auditory 
ideas. It is therefore not easy to distinguish in the child 
the normal activity of imagination from its abnormal forms. 



THE INTELLECT 63 

According to Ziehen the following signs indicate an abnor- 
mal condition of this faculty : (1) exclusive, or almost exclu- 
sive, absorption of the phantasy with the child's own ego; 
(2) monotonous occupation of the fancies with one's own 
origin, with oppression and persecution; (3) shunning chil- 
dren of the same age, with a preference for solitude ; (4) un- 
usually strong and persistent after-eifects on the habitual 
activities, disposition, and character of the child. Hyper- 
phantasy shows itself in the pathological lie (see Chap. VI.) ; 
in hysteria it is the most important mental symptom. The 
teacher should give special attention to children with an 
abnormally active imagination. Such children should read 
natural history in preference to exciting fiction. They 
should also be specially urged to manual activity, to play, 
to making natural history collections, and should be pre- 
vented from cultivating solitude. 



Y. The Discursive Processes 

Conception, judgment, and reasoning, the three processes 
of discursive thought, are treated together, because it is 
impossible to make qualitative distinctions among them. 
They differ only in degree, not in kind. In every concept, 
there is involved a rudimentary judgment, and the syllogism 
consists simply in the apperceptive synthesis of judgments, 
whose constituent elements are concepts. The three are 
then at bottom only different stages in the one process, by 
which knowledge of the abstract is elaborated. Examples 
given, therefore, to illustrate the one, contain elements 
almost equally illustrative of the others. 

Conception. — The child's earliest experience, being 
predominantly sensuous, is also predominantly individual 
and concrete. He lives in the particular. It is a momen- 



64 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

tous juncture in his life when he first steps out beyond 
individual things, to abstract their common qualities, and 
of these to form notions. It is only then that he begins to 
think, in the strict sense of the word ; and it is this think- 
ing in abstractions and generals, which, in Locke's opinion, 
differentiates the human mind essentially from lower animal 
intelligence, 

Taine believes that the general notion makes its appear- 
ance only with the acquisition of language. Preyer, on 
the other hand, maintains that "even before the first 
attempts at speaking, a generalizing and, therefore, concept- 
forming combination of memory-images regularly takes 
place." " That the ability to abstract may show itself, 
though imperfectly, even in the first year, is, according to 
my observations, certain. Infants are struck by a quality 
of an object — e.g., the white appearance of milk. The 
' abstracting,' then, consists in the isolating of this quality 
from innumerable other sight-impressions, and the blending 
of the impressions into a concept. The naming of this, 
which begins months later, ... is an outward sign of this 
abstraction, which did not at all lead to the formation of 
the concept, but followed it." He also quotes from Oehl- 
wein to show that deaf-mute children, in the first year 
of life, form concepts, and logically combine them with one 
another; and he concludes that thinking is not bound up 
with verbal language, though it no doubt demands a certain 
degree of cerebral development. Even orangs and chim- 
panzees reason without language, but their concepts are 
neither so abstract, so clear, nor so numerous as those of the 
child even before he learns to speak, while after that time 
the gulf between them widens infinitely. 

According to Romanes, there is a class of ideas standing 
between the percept and the concept, less abstract than the 
latter but more general than the former, to which he gives 



THE INTELLECT 65 

the name recept. They are complex ideas arising out of a 
repetition of more or less similar percepts. E.g., when a 
parrot, who has learned to call out bow-wow when the house 
dog enters the room, also calls out this word on seeing other 
dogs of various sizes, colors and forms, he possesses an idea 
which constitutes an advance on the percept, but cannot, 
strictly speaking, be called a concept. Every child passes 
through a receptual stage, which does not require language, 
whereas the concept, properly so called, or the active 
synthesis of qualities into a class is not, in his opinion, 
attained until the child can speak. 

Taking the ordinary meaning of the word concept, which 
includes what Romanes expresses by recept, it seems estab- 
lished that the formation of the concept is prior to, and 
in large measure independent of, language; but it seems 
equally clear that abstraction and generalization do not attain 
to any great degree of complexity without the aid of speech, 
as the observation of the cleverest deaf-mutes clearly shows. 
Even after speech begins, the discursive processes develop 
but slowly. A boy of three years did not know the meaning 
of " size " or " goodness," though long before this he per- 
fectly understood the expression : *' Baby is a good boy." 
Children have very little idea of number in the iirst two 
years. A child of two and a half years confounded 
"naughty" with "ugly." In short, we find at this period 
only the lowest degree of abstraction. 

The child's first generalizations are very inaccurate. 
Even when he begins to talk and to use general names, he 
does not use them in the same sense as the adult. His 
generalizations are apt to be too wide. "Logic in the child 
naturally operates with much more extensive and less 
intensive notions than in adults. Hence he is very liable 
to illusion, not through stupidity, but simply through igno- 
rance, arising out of lack of experience." After having held 



66 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

out grass to a sheep, he also oifers some to the birds, and 
in this he is acting with perfect consistency, within the 
range of his knowledge. He extends the term papa to other 
men, the word atta or peudu (perdu) to all sorts of disappear- 
ances ; he makes the word quack-quack apply not only to a 
duck, but to the water on which the duck swims, then to all 
birds and insects, then to all fluids, and finally to all coins, 
because he had seen the picture of an eagle on a French 
sou. He includes an eye-glass in the concept hon dieu 
(blessed medal), and the steamboat, coffee-pot, and all hiss- 
ing, noisy objects, in the class /a/e?' (chemin de fer, locomo- 
tive). A little girl of eighteen months had been amused by 
her mother hiding in play, and saying coucou. She had also 
been warned to keep out of the hot sun, by the words ga 
brule. One day, on seeing the sun disappear behind a hill, 
she put these two ideas together and exclaimed a hUle 
coucori. Another child of the same age applied the name 
no-no to all eye-glasses, because she had been forbidden to 
snatch off her nurse's glasses by the words no-no. Taine 
believes the characteristic mark, distinguishing the child 
from the lower animal, is this very capacity of detecting 
resemblances amid differences, which leads him to extend, 
to such a surprising degree, the denotation of the term. 
Not only does he apply the word bow-wow to the terriers, 
mastiffs and Newfoundlands which he meets in the street, 
but a little later he does what an animal never does, he 
says bow-wow to a pasteboard dog that barks when squeezed, 
then to a pasteboard dog which does not bark, but runs on 
wheels, then to the bronze dogs which ornament the drawing- 
room, then to his little cousin, who runs about the room 
on all fours, then, at last, to a picture representing a 
dog. 

Children's notions of things are chiefly connected with 
their uses or actions. M. Binet gives a large number of in- 



THE INTELLECT 67 

teresting definitions of things given by children, from which 
I select the following: '' Un couteau, c'est pour couper 
la viande." "Un cheval, c'est pour trainer une voiture, 
avec un monsieur dedans." " Une lampe, c'est pour allumer, 
pour qu'on voie clair dans la chambre." " Un crayon, c'est 
pour ecrire." " Un chapeau, c'est pour mettre sur la tete." 
(Note the frequency of the " pour.") 

Judgment is involved, in a rudimentary form, in concep- 
tion, and even in perception, as may be seen from the fore- 
going examples. When a child at two months recognizes 
his parents ; at three and a half months turns round to the 
cage on hearing the word coco; " comes to meet " the spoon 
with his mouth when being fed; at seven months turns his 
head around to the left when an object is carried so far be- 
hind him that he can no longer see it by turning to the right ; 
at eight months recognizes a pictorial representation ; and 
cries for Gourlay water, which is white and opaque, though 
not for ordinary water; in the tenth month gives evidence 
of the knowledge that bodies have weight ; and shows by 
unmistakable signs that he misses his absent parents, and 
even knows when a single nine-pin is removed from his set, 
— we cannot doubt that he is performing an act of judg- 
ment. These primitive judgments are mostly concrete and 
particular, abstract and general judgments being a later 
attainment. Children of eighteen months will recognize 
the pictures of all the more familiar animals, and respond 
with the appropriate sounds, bow-ivow, moo, etc. The spoken 
judgment arises when an object arouses an idea in the 
child's mind, to which idea he attaches a name, recognizing 
it as connected with the object. The first spoken judgment 
does not then require two words, as Taine seems to think, 
but usually consists of one word, which does duty for a 
whole sentence. When Preyer's boy said "heiss," the 



68 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

meaning was, " This food is too hot." And when the 
child G. looking out of ther window, said " doggie," he in- 
terpreted his sensations as having the meaning " dog." 

Weakness of the Judgment. — Normal children, with 
the progress of their mental development, continually learn 
to construct more and more difficult judgments. The case 
is otherwise with weak-minded children. In proportion to 
the degree of mental weakness, these children always re- 
main poorly furnished with ideas and concepts, in spite 
of the greatest efforts on the part of their teachers. In con- 
sequence of this, such children are seldom or never able to 
construct accurate judgments ; they suffer from judgment- 
weakness. 

Keasoning. — When the little boy R. was four months 
old, he was playing one day on the floor surrounded by his 
toys. One toy rolled away beyond his reach. He seized a 
clothes-pin and used that as a " rake " with which to draw 
the toy within reach of his hand. Mr. Darwin laid his 
finger on the palm of a child five months old. The child 
closed his fingers around it, and carried it to his mouth. 
When he found that he was hindered from sucking it, by 
his own fingers getting in the way, he loosened his grasp 
and took a new hold farther down, then vigorously sucked 
the finger. A boy of eight months took a watch, which was 
offered him, and after biting on it with evident satisfaction, 
tried to break a piece off, as he would from a cracker. At 
thirteen months, a child y^p noticed the resemblance be- 
tween two men, inferred certain acts on the part of the one, 
which he had been accustomed to see in the other. 

The boy C, when fourteen months old, was one day feed- 
ing the dog with crackers, when the supply ran out. He 
immediately " crept to the sideboard, opened the left-hand 



THE INTELLECT 69 

door, pulled himself up by the shelf, and helped himself 
out of the box -in which they were kept." He had seen 
crackers taken from this box before, but had never done it 
himself. He was observed to feel his own ears, and then 
his mother's, one day when looking at pictures of rabbits. 
One day, when eighteen months old, he came in from play- 
ing on the lawn, quite hot and somewhat dirty. He at once 
ran to his mother, holding up his dirty dress with a gesture 
of disgust ; then ran to the drawer where his clean clothes 
were kept, and tugged at it with all his might. Another 
boy of the same age, both of whose hands were filled with 
toys, wishing to grasp still another, quickly put one of them 
between his knees. A little girl of this age used to feign 
sleep until the nurse left the room, when she would immedi- 
ately resume her interrupted romps. Tiedemann's boy, at 
two years of age, used to employ cunning to accomplish 
his purposes. The little girl F. , at a year and a half, fur- 
nished a good example of reasoning by analogy. She had 
been shown the pictures in a book with red binding. She 
afterwards went to the bookcase and took down two other 
books having red binding, and looked through them, evi- 
dently expecting to find pictures in them also. One day 
when I rose to take my leave, she patted vigorously on the 
cushion of a chair, and then pulled at my coat to induce me 
to prolong my stay. 

From about the end of the second year, the reasoning 
power in most children makes such rapid progress that it is 
impossible to set down all the examples that are to hand. 
I content myself with one more. A boy of two years was 
quite familiar with the articles of his food by name, and 
when the word milk was spoken in his hearing, he clamored 
for a share of that article. His mother hit upon the device 
of spelling the word, when it was undesirable that his atten- 
tion should be called to it. Before long, however, he learned 



70 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

to know the word, even when spelled, and one day, when his 
mother asked for the m-i-l-k, he at once cried out, mickey. 



YI. The Idea of Self 

The phenomena which accompany and indicate the gradual 
emergence into clear consciousness, of what Taine calls the 
'' unextended centre," the " mathematical point," by relation 
to which all the " other " is defined, and which each of us 
calls "I," or "me," — the external evidences that the child 
is slowly but surely becoming " aware of himself as a per- 
manent being, distinct from the objects he knows, the feel- 
ings he experiences, and the ends he chooses," — may be 
conveniently classified under four heads : 

1. The Child's Treatment of his own Body. — In 
the first weeks he will strike or scratch his own face. One 
boy bit his own finger until he cried with the pain, even in 
the early part of the second year. In the ninth month the 
feet are still eagerly felt of, and the toes carried to the 
mouth, the same as foreign substances. This experimenta- 
tion with his own limbs goes on all through the second and 
in some cases well on into the third year. "In the first 
year the child's organism is not known as part of himself." 
A boy of nineteen months, when asked to " give the foot," 
seized it with both hands, and tried to hand it over. 
A little girl, a little over two years old, used to enlarge 
on a familiar ditty in the following fashion : " One for papa, 
one for mamma, one for toses (one for toes)." Sigismund 
believes that the child learns a good deal about his own 
limbs (and so takes the first step toward a knowledge of 
self) through bringing his hand to his mouth, to ease the 
pain of the growing teeth. The feeling is different when 
he chews his own finger and that of his nurse. A child of 



THE INTELLECT 71 

four or five months studies Lis own fingers attentively. 
When one hand accidentally grasps the other, he looks at- 
tentively at both. Lying on his back, he gazes at his legs 
stretched up in the air. 

Closely connected with this is the child's evident delight 
in his own activity and ability to do things. Wundt believes 
the muscular sense plays a predominant role in the genesis 
of self-consciousness, and there is little doubt that the ac- 
quisition of the power of walking contributes very largely 
to the growth of the self-idea. The feeling of power is en- 
gendered by the discovery that he can cause changes in 
objects. " An extremely significant day in the life of the 
infant is the one in which he first experiences the connec- 
tion of a movement executed by himself with a sense- 
impression following upon it." Preyer's boy, in the fifth 
month, discovered that by tearing paper he could produce 
sound sensations ; also by shaking a bunch of keys, opening 
and closing a box (thirteenth month), turning the leaves of 
a book, etc., and these occupations were accordingly carried 
on with a perseverance astonishing to an adult. He experi- 
enced a genuine pleasure in finding himself a cause. 

2. The Child's Behavior towards his Image in the 
Mirror. — Darwin's child failed to interpret his reflection 
when five months old, but two months later he had accom- 
plished it, and at nine months had learned to associate his 
name with the image. Another child at eight mouths used 
to look at his reflection with wonder (expressed by wide- 
open eyes and immobility). " On being shown a hand glass, 
he regards his image with interest, smiles and tries to catch 
it. He puts his hand on the glass, and tries to take hold 
of the image's hand. Then he turns the glass over, and 
looks up in wonder at the result." A similar perform- 
ance was gone through by a boy of ten months ; and, six 



72 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

months later, he was found one day standing before the 
glass, pulling his hair, examining his eyes and ears, and 
sticking out his tongue. Preyer's boy did not notice him- 
self in the glass when three months old. Three weeks 
later he looked at it, but with indifference. Two weeks 
later still, he regarded it with attention, and laughed at the 
sight of it. Near the end of the sixth month, he stretched 
out his hand towards it. In his ninth month he grasped at 
it, and seemed surprised when his hand came against the 
smooth surface. At fourteen months he passed his hand 
behind the glass, as if searching for something. He after- 
wards behaved in the same manner toward a photograph. 
In the sixteenth month he made grimaces before the glass, 
laughing as he did so. Two weeks later he looked at him- 
self often in the glass, with pleasure and evident vanity. 
At twenty months he connected his own name with the 
image, and when asked, " Where is Axel ? " would point to 
the reflection. Another child knew her image in the glass 
at twelve months, would point to it and say Tatie (Katie). 
A little boy of fifteen months calls his image Titta, by 
which he means child or doll. 

3. In the third place, we have those actions which show 
the beginnings of the Feeling of Property, such as 
pride in personal appearance, and in adornment, jealousy 
over toys, and other things which the child considers his 
rights. A number of examples will be given later in 
connection with the emotion of jealousy. As regards per- 
sonal adornment, there are very great differences among 
children, some taking great delight in it, while others seem 
to care but little about it. A little girl whom I have 
observed since her first year seems very fond of it, and will 
spend hours in adorning herself with veils and feathers and 
bracelets, making believe she is some fine lady. Whenever 



THE INTELLECT 73 

her best clothes are put on, or a new hat, she is very proud 
and walks very straight and dignifiied indeed. 

4. Lastly, we notice the Child's Use of the Pronoun 
" I." It is interesting to remember that, according to the 
opinion of some philologists (Max MtUler, for example), this 
word was, at the beginning of the development of language, 
a demonstrative, meaning "this one" and was probably 
accompanied by a gesture, and perhaps further back still 
the gesture supplied the place of the word. Man spoke of 
himself in the third person before he learned to use the 
first person. Just so with the child. He first calls himself 
by his proper name, or he uses the word baby, and the in- 
telligent use of the first personal pronoun comes late — 
most observers put it as late as the third year. I have 
never heard a child less than two years old call himself " I " 
or " me." The chief difficulty in the way of his doing so 
is that he never hears the word applied to him by others. 
This is why he makes such errors as " Take me up on my 
(meaning your) lap." 

The " I " feeling is often present, therefore, before the 
word is used. The concept of the self is not generated, but 
only rendered more exact and definite by speech. On the 
other hand, it must not be presumed that the concept is 
always present where the word is used. Children who are 
constantly in the society of those who use the word will use 
it also, merely by imitation in many cases, without compre- 
hending its meaning. A child may say " I am hungry," 
without any idea that "I" is different from "hungry." 
Perez says : " When the child learns to say ' I ' or ' me,' 
instead of ' Charles ' or ' Paul,' the terms * I ' or ' me ' are 
not more abstract to him than the proper names which he 
has been taught to replace by 'I' or 'me.' Both the pro- 
nouns and the names equally express a very distinct and 



74 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

very concrete idea of individual personality. When a three- 
year-old child says ' I want that,' it is only a translation of 
' Paul wants that,' and 'I,' like 'Paul,' indicates neither the 
first nor the third person, but the person who is himself, his 
own well-known personality, which he continually feels in 
his emotions and actions. An abstract notion of personality 
does not exist in a young child's mind." In short, so 
great is the influence of the environment here, that scarcely 
anything can be asserted in a general way of all children. 
Some children scarcely ever hear the pronoun 'I.' The 
members of the family avoid it, and say instead : " Mamma 
is busy ; " " Sister is gone to school ; " " Baby must be 
good," etc. ; in such cases, the child will of course take a 
long time to acquire the word. 

In many cases, me is used before I. It seems easier, for 
some reason. Sometimes children pass through a sort of 
transition period, when I is used indifferently with the 
proper name, or even with he. Binet says of the little girl 
he observed that at three and a half years exactly, she first 
used the word je, in the sentence je ne sais pas. Two days 
after she said je ne veux pas. But long after that, she made 
many mistakes in the use of the pronoun. In two .other 
children, the / took the place of the third personal designa- 
tion before the end of the third year, and / preceded me, 
and you was later than either. Another child at twenty- 
five months used my, but not I. 

Such are the various factors entering into the develop- 
ment of the child's self-consciousness, by which " he raises 
himself higher and higher above the dependent condition of 
the animal, so that at last the difference between animal and 
human being " attains such infinite magnitude. 



CHAPTER III 

THE FEELINGS 

The principle of transformation, which is exemplified in 
almost every fact recorded in the preceding chapters, is still 
more clearly illustrated in those departments of the mental 
life which we have yet to consider. In studying the emo- 
tional life of children, for example, we shall observe that in 
the earlier stages, when intellectual comprehension (which is 
essential to the emotions of the grown-up person) can by no 
means be presumed to be present, yet the outward manifes- 
tation — movement, facial expression, etc. — resembles very 
closely that of the adult, or the older child. It seems 
unphilosophical to class the phenomena of these two periods 
together under a common name, and our only excuse for 
doing so is that the one shades ofE so gradually into the 
other that to establish a rigid line of distinction seems 
impossible. We shall therefore consider both stages under 
the general head of feeling, with the preliminary remark, 
that emotion, in the proper sense of the term, arises only 
when the mental powers have so far developed, that the 
feeling is the product or outcome of thought. Previous to 
that time the outward expression must be looked upon 
merely as the response of the organism to agreeable or 
disagreeable conditions. In the case of a genuine emotion, 
as above described, the same physiological expressions con- 
tinue to be employed, because through habit they have 
become easier than any others, while their employment in 
76 



76 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

the first stage may be accounted for on the principle of 
heredity. 

I. Fear 

These remarks are specially true in the case of fear, 
whose manifestation is at first quite independent of thought, 
and of specific experiences, but which, as a true mental 
phenomenon, requires both these for its full development. 

We have, then, two stages of fear : first, the fear that is 
independent of hurtful experiences, and must be considered 
hereditary ; and secondly, the fear that is produced by a 
mental image of the danger. The former is very marked 
in the lower animals. When Spalding let loose a hawk 
suddenly over a brood of young chickens in a meadow, they 
immediately "crouched" and hid themselves in the grass, 
while the mother hen attacked the foe with tremendous 
violence, though neither she nor her brood had ever seen a 
hawk before. A dove, let loose in the same way, produced 
no such result. So the child, when only a few weeks old, 
will start and cry at any sudden sound or strange sight, 
quite independently of experience. He shrinks from cats 
and dogs, without ever having been injured by them ; he is 
afraid of falling, before he has ever fallen, and trembles at 
the sight of large and majestic objects, such as the ocean, 
when he looks upon them for the first time. Many infants 
cry when it thunders, though they do not at all understand 
what it is, and experience a shock — just as some nervous 
adults do — when a door closes with a bang, or an object 
falls upon the floor. They contract all the muscles of 
the body nervously when suddenly lowered through the 
air in the nurse's arms. They sometimes shrink from 
people dressed in black, and from those who speak in deep 
sepulchral tones. A little girl slightly over two months 
old appeared terrified on beholding a distorted face ; she 



THE FEELINGS 77 

cried out and sought protection in her mother's arms. A 
boy of seven months seemed afraid when a fan was opened 
and closed before him ; and another at a loud snoring noise 
which he heard for the first time. The boy G., when about 
a year old, manifested the most abject terror at the sight 
(and sound) of a bright red humming top which had been 
bought for him. He even refused for some time to go near 
the spot where the top had been. Up to the present time 
this fear has abated very little, though the top has been for 
more than a year in his home. 

In this early period, most children seem more afraid of 
sounds than of sights. They are usually afraid of thunder, 
but scarcely ever of lightning. A child who started ner- 
vously when a box of comfits was shaken before him, made 
no such sign when the empty box was shaken. One may 
thrust with the finger, as we have seen, quite close to the 
open eye of an infant, without causing him to blink, while, 
if one speaks to him in a harsh or loud tone, he will cry. 
A little child has been known to lie smiling in his cradle, 
surrounded by the flames of a burning house ; but when 
rescued, has broken out into loud cries of fear at the noise 
of the engines and the shouting of the assembled crowd. 
Little Gr., when slightly over two years of age, became very 
much frightened at the sound made by a clock from whose 
pendulum the weight had been removed, and which was 
rapidly running down with a loud whirring noise. 

Eye-fear, however, soon develops, and strange sights as 
well as sounds startle and frighten the child. We have a 
very ancient example of this in the Iliad, where Hector is 
described as bidding his wife and child farewell before 
going out to the fight. When he reached out his arms 
for the child, the latter cried out, and hid his face in the 
bosom of the nurse, frightened by his father's gleaming 
bronze and the helmet crested with horse-hair. Sigismund 



78 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

describes his child as showing fear of a sleeve board, by- 
association with the glowing " goose," and also at the 
sparks from a blacksmith's forge. There are also touch- 
fears. The little girl, F., started back when her hand came 
into contact with some soft fur. The suddenness of the 
sensation apparently had more to do with her fear than 
the quality of the feeling, for she soon lost her fear of this 
article. 

According to my observations, the fears of children are 
most commonly aroused by objects that are vast and of 
overpowering aspect, and that emit loud sounds, especially 
when they approach too near. In many cases, too, this fear 
is felt only when the child is forced to face the dreaded 
object alone. A boy of two years, who takes great delight 
in going with his father to watch the passing trains from 
the bottom of the garden, came running to the house one 
day in great fear, when a passing express found him at the 
post of observation alone. 

Some investigations have recently been made in Cali- 
fornia with a view of determining tvhat objects for the 
most part cause the fears of children. In nearly two- 
thirds of the cases examined, the fear was "a vague, 
haunting terror of the dark, of awful shapes, of something 
I know not what," conjured up, apparently, in the child's 
imagination. In the remainder of the cases, the fear 
was connected with specific objects, persons, animals, or 
machines, such as the steam engine. 

The plasticity of the child's nature renders him suscepti- 
ble to impressions which, in many cases, remain with him 
through life. Fear of the dark, fear of the woods, fear 
of being alone, are often inculcated by unwise nurses and 
teachers, and remain, in some cases, ineradicably fixed in 
the constitution. Mosso tells of an old soldier who, on 
being asked what had been his greatest fear, replied: "I 



THE FEELINGS 79 

am nearly seventy years of age. I have looked death in 
the face many times, and never felt fear ; but whenever I 
pass a little church in the shadow of a wood, or a deserted 
chapel in the mountains, I always remember an abandoned 
oratory in my native village, and am afraid. I look around, 
as if I were about to see the corpse of a murdered man 
which I saw in my infancy, and with which an old servant 
threatened to shut me up in order to quiet me." 

The child from three to seven years is very liable to have 
dreams of exceeding vividness, and if he wakes suddenly 
out of a deep sleep, his face will often bear signs of great 
fear, as though he saw an apparition. The eyes stare 
straight ahead, he fails to recognize persons, he breaks out 
into perspiration, his heart beats hard and his limbs trem- 
ble. These nocturnal fears may become so strong as to 
cause veritable attacks of epilepsy. 

Sometimes a new fear is developed by sickness. Some 
children seem morbidly timid and fearful, while others 
seldom show signs of fear in any form. As the child's 
education progresses, his fear increases in some directions, 
and decreases in others; as he learns, on the one hand, 
that certain objects which he supposed harmless are really 
harmful, and on the other, that some which he at first 
esteemed dangerous will do him no injury. In other 
words, it is only a commonplace to say that fear is both 
increased and diminished by advancing knowledge. The 
man is more afraid of a loaded pistol, and less afraid of an 
empty one, than the child. 



II. Anger 

Anger is evil only in its abuse. In a moderate degree, 
it is the index of a just and sensitive temperament, and 
a force which education should direct and not annihilate. 



80 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

" In my opinion," says Perez, " a child of ten months who 
does not weep or cry at least four or five times a day, 
who is not amused, and who is not irritated, like a savage, 
or a young animal, by a mere trifle (" pour une bagatelle "), 
is lacking in sensibility and in intelligence, and will, no 
doubt, be lacking in character, — bury him; he is dead." 
" It is necessary," he goes on to say, speaking of the edu- 
cation of the child in this regard, " to surround the cradle 
with an atmosphere of sweet serenity, but it is not always 
necessary to hide anger. Just anger should be shown, but 
with moderation." 

It is difficult to say when the child first feels anger, 
because its outward signs are at first very easily confounded 
with those of pain or distress. Mr. Sully thought he saw 
manifestations of anger at the very outset of life, in a little 
girl who, " in refusing to accept the nutriment provided by 
nature, showed all the signs of passionate wrath." Mr. 
Darwin noticed, in a child eight days old, frowning and 
wrinkling of the skin around the eyes before crying; but he 
adds, " this may have been pain and not anger." In the 
third month, he thought he observed signs of real anger, and 
in the fourth month he had no doubt about it, for the blood 
rushed into the face and scalp. Tiedemann's son gave evi- 
dence of anger in the second month by actively pushing away 
the disagreeable object. By the eighth month, he was quite 
capable of violent anger and jealousy. Perez believes he 
has seen signs of impatience at the end of the first month, 
if not earlier; and, in the second month, real fits. of passion, 
pushing away distasteful objects, frowning, reddening, trem- 
bling, and weeping. At six months, children will scream 
if their toys are taken away, and towards the end of the 
first year, anger sometimes exhibits itself in revengeful 
actions hurtful to themselves, such as beating a chair, etc. 
A child of seven months screamed with rage because a 



THE FEELINGS 81 

lemon slipped out of his hand ; and at eleven months, if 
a wrong plaything were given him, he would push it away 
and beat it. 

Up to a certain age, almost all children are exceedingly 
irascible, and I know of no particular in which the familiar 
analogy of the child to the savage is more strikingly shown. 
The child's will and reason are weak, his passions are strong, 
comparatively speaking, and he is ruled by his feelings. So 
it is with savage races. They are proverbially passionate; 
and the progressive effects of civilization upon a race, lead- 
ing uhem gradually to control the impetuous and unreason- 
able rage which characterized the earlier stages of their 
civilization, is strikingly analogous to the wise training of 
the human being from the irascibility of the child to the 
calmness and moderation of the educated man. 



III. Surprise, Astonishment, Curiosity 

Surprise and astonishment are closely related to fear, not 
only in childhood, but in all our life. Novelty of impres- 
sion and failure to understand are the prolific causes of 
wonder, as well as of fear. And yet, on the other hand, it 
must be borne in mind that wonder requires and presup- 
poses a certain amount of knowledge. If I knew absolutely 
nothing about crows, the sight of a white crow would cause 
me no more surprise than the sight of a black one. This 
explains the fact that little children often fail to manifest 
surprise where we expect them to do so. They fail to be 
astonished at what happens, simply because, being totally 
ignorant in regard to the matter in hand, they have no 
preconceived ideas as to what ought to happen, and do 
not, therefore, expect any one thing more than any other. 
Accordingly, that which actually happens is taken as a 
matter of course. 



82 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Surprise and astonisliinent are not identical. The former 
may be described as an active state, the latter as a passive 
one. The child who is only surprised maintains control of 
his muscles, and examines the strange object with the closest 
attention, while the astonished child suddenly loses voli- 
tional control, and remains fixed in the attitude in which 
the strange impression overtook him, with wide-open mouth 
and eyes. In the one case there is activity and movement, 
in the other a sort of paralysis. 

The germ of surprise has been observed in children less 
than a month old, who may be seen to stare at their own 
fingers, with great attention, as though having noticed them 
for the first time. From this time onward, wonder is con- 
stantly manifested at pictures on the wall, sunbeams dancing 
on the floor, the fire crackling on the hearth, and especially 
at the movements of animate beings. The infant gazes long 
and steadily at these strange phenomena. A little girl of 
less than a month, on being taken downstairs into new quar- 
ters, stared around in great wonder for a time, but this soon 
passed away. 

Astonishment makes its appearance later. When six 
months old, Preyer's child manifested astonishment at the 
sudden and unexpected appearance of his father ; and a lit- 
tle later at the sight of a stranger in his room. The child's 
eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped, and his body became 
motionless. It is to be observed that the peculiar manner 
of expressing this emotion, as well as most of the others, is 
entirely original with the child himself. He expresses aston- 
ishment in this way before he has had any opportunity of 
imitating the gestures of others. These gestures, therefore, 
must be the result of instinctive tendencies, which, by virtue 
of heredity, have become fixed in the human race, as they 
are everywhere the same. 

Closely allied to the sentiment of wonder is that of ciiri- 



THE FEELINGS 83 

This is a natural, spontaneous tendency, -which might 
perhaps be more fittingly classed under the head of intellect 
but for the fact that, in the very young child, its essential 
character is feeling. It consists of a sort of chronic hunger 
for new sensations, which impels the child constantly to 
handle, examine, taste, and otherwise experiment upon all 
objects that come within his reach. The little boy, E., used 
to try to untie every parcel that was brought in. It is a 
purely sensuous impulse at first, but with the expansion of 
the intellect it is transformed into the pure desire to know. 
It permeates the play of the child, which, as Sigismund 
says, is like the experimentation of the scientist, by which 
he elicits from nature the answers to his questions. It is 
one of the most powerful factors in the child's development, 
and should be guided into right channels, rather than dis- 
couraged, by the educator. 

Tiedemann believed curiosity was developed in his son in 
his second month; the eyes made an effort to follow a new 
or curious object. Perez saw evidences of curiosity almost 
from the beginning, and at two months the child " would 
stretch out his hand, and turn his eyes and ears towards 
objects affecting his senses. At three months he would 
seize objects within reach, and shake them about to amuse 
himself." From this time on, and especially from the time 
he begins to walk, everything within reach becomes the 
object of constant study. The acquisition of language adds 
greatly to his resources in this respect. " His little voice, 
a hundred times in an hour, expresses a desire, or asks a 
question, and that, not so much through need of knowing 
what tilings are, ... as through the appetite for fresh and 
new sensations. So powerful does this impulse become 
that sometimes the child is sad, or even sick, if it be not 
gratified." 

M. Taine calls attention to the significant circumstance 



84 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

that this curiosity, which is so powerful a force in child 
life, is not found in the lower animals. " Any one may 
observe that from the fifth or sixth month, children employ 
their whole time for two years or more in making physical 
experiments. No animal, not even the cat or dog, makes 
this constant study of all bodies within its reach. All day 
long the child of whom I speak — twelve months old — 
touches, feels, turns about, lets drop, tastes, and experi- 
ments upon, everything she gets hold of, whatever it may 
be — ball, doll, coral, or plaything. When once it is suffi- 
ciently known, she throws it aside ; it is no longer new ; she 
has nothing further to learn from it, and so has no further 
interest in it." ^ It will be noticed here that Taine assigns 
a larger part to the intellectual than does Perez. He says 
physical need and greediness count for nothing. It is pure 
curiosity. "It seems as if, in her little brain, every group 
of perceptions was tending to complete itself, as in that of 
a child who makes use of language." But the little girl 
observed by Taine was a year old, and by that time, no 
doubt, curiosity was beginning to assume more of an intel- 
lectual character. 

IV. Esthetic Feelings 

As early as the forty-fifth day, Mr. Darwin noticed a real 
smile of pleasure, " which must have had a mental origin." 
It was observed when the infant was looking at his mother, 
and also during the act of nursing; and was quite different 
from the so-called smiles which had been seen prior to that 
time, in being accompanied by a more intelligent expres- 
sion, and by the sparkling and " swimming " of the eyes. 

It is not to be presumed that every laugh of the young 
child proceeds from a comprehension of the humorous. The 

1 " Mind," Vol. n., p. 252. 



THE FEELINGS 85 

first laugh is probably — like the first vocal utterances — 
only the spontaneous functioning of the organism. Yet it 
is maintained by careful observers that the sense of fun is 
present in some children three months old. About this age 
they may be greatly amused by such little games as throw- 
ing a pinafore over the head and suddenly withdrawing it, 
and by the familiar gambols of hide-and-peek. Later they 
show great pleasure at being carried on one's shoulder, 
swung about in the air, or tossed up to the ceiling. They 
laugh most heartily while the fun lasts, and are very unwill- 
ing that it should stop. 

Something has already been said on the subject of musical 
appreciation in children. Mr. Darwin, who observed in his 
child a fondness for the piano as early as the fourth month, 
considers the feeling of pleasure in music as the first of the 
aesthetic sentiments, unless the appreciation of bright colors 
comes earlier. Another child, at five months, showed signs 
of pleasure when singing was going on, and even kept a sort 
of time with his body, but was indifferent to whistling. 
Another observer places the pleasure in musical sounds as 
early as the second month, and in another case the child was 
observed at eleven weeks to pucker up his lip a little when 
the piano was being played. I have frequently observed 
this fondness for music at a later age, when the child will 
crowd close to the piano, and show his appreciation by 
rocking his body to and fro. Appreciation of expression in 
music is, however, almost entirely lacking at this time, and 
requires education to develop it. 

Sense of Material Beauty. — The child at first con- 
fuses the beautiful with ivhat is pleasant. Animated move- 
ment at the sight of beautiful things is at first, no doubt, 
only response to pleasant feeling. There is no understand- 
ing of form, color, etc., as beautiful or otherwise. This 



86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

pleasure in certain sensations, however, is one of the foun- 
dation stones upon which the aesthetic sense of material 
beauty is afterwards to be built. From about the eighth 
month, there have been observed the beginnings of this 
feeling in the pleasure shown by the child in personal 
adornment. But even now the sesthetic and the sensuous 
are blended in the pleasure a child feels in the new dress 
or hat. " Pretty " and " good " are interchangeable terms in 
his mind. At thirteen months he will snatch at haphazard 
among a heap of toys, seeming not to discriminate at all 
among them as to beauty; and, at a much later period, 
a child taken out to the country gives no evidence of any 
appreciation of the beauties of the landscape, but is attracted 
rather by some new or strange object — especially if it be 
an animal, or something that moves. Symmetry in form 
and harmony in colors make but little impression on him. 
Here, as in music, he demands quantity rather than quality, 
movement rather than expression. Yet these words must 
not be understood as denying to the young child all aesthetic 
feeling. Beautiful objects, if they are not too large, nor too 
distant, please him. He is charmed by the pretty butterfly 
and the pretty flower; he is greatly attracted by the human 
face, and by the expression of the human eye. 

The dramatic instinct is very strong in childhood, though 
stronger and earlier in some children than in others. Chil- 
dren are born actors. Their lively imagination and strong 
hereditary tendency to imitation lead them, even before the 
first year of their life has gone, to perform many curious 
movements and gestures. In their plays, children con- 
stantly personify, represent, dramatize, assume characters, 
and assign fictitious characters to other persons and things. 
An eminent teacher in Toronto assures me that his three 
children, in their play, almost always address each other by 
assumed names, and the play is carried on in make-believe 



THE FEELINGS 87 

characters, which are dropped as soon as the game is over, 
and never referred to at any other time. 

V. Love, Sympathy, etc. 

If we may judge by the smiles which an infant bestows 
upon those who have charge of him, affectioyi for persons 
arises very early. These smiles have been observed before 
the end of the second month, and even at a much earlier 
period. The earliest smiles are probably automatic, as 
already said, but by the end of the fourth month there is no 
longer any doubt that persons are recognized. A little boy 
of this age was observed to lift up both arms towards his 
parents, " with an indescribable expression of longing." A 
girl of the same age used to be fond of lying beside her 
sister, their faces touching. After her sister died (she was 
then five months old), she seemed very lonely, and when 
she met other children of her own age, she would greet them 
with smiles and kisses. In another case visible signs of 
affection for persons whom he knew, were shown by a boy 
eight months old, and another boy, who, when nine months 
old, used to return his father's caresses by a charming smile 
and gentle stroking of his father's face, had grown very 
affectionate and sympathetic by the time he was fourteen 
months old, and bestowed his caresses in abundance, not 
only on his parents and friends, but on the cat and dog 
also. Spontaneous expression of affection is, in many cases, 
indeed, first shown about the beginning of the second year. 
One child of this age kissed his nurse repeatedly on her 
return from a short absence, and another was in the habit 
of showing his affection for certain persons by gently lay- 
ing his hand upon their faces or shoulders. Affection for 
animals, and even for inanimate objects, is also very strong 
in many children of this age. The little boy, B,., was remark- 



88 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

ably attached to an old scarf of soft wool and to a couple 
of rag dolls. He would not go to sleep without them, but 
would lie in his cradle and call for them until they were 
brought, when he would hug them up in his arms, and fall 
asleep chattering and cooing to them in a charming manner. 
When he got into trouble, especially if his mother punished 
him, he would run and bury his face in the old scarf, and 
weep out his childish sorrows into its sympathetic folds. 

The memory of the little child is comparatively weak, 
and his experience short ; and hence, though capable of 
strong affection, that affection does not persist long in the 
absence of its object. " Out of sight, out of mind," is true 
in the case of the child during his first year, and relatively 
true to a much later period. He is incapable of " homesick- 
ness," with all its suffering, simply because he is unable as 
yet to form mental pictures of home and friends who are 
absent. He lives in the present rather than the past, in 
the realm of sense rather than that of memory. For the 
same reason, his love for persons and places is very plastic, 
and may be moulded and directed into almost any desired 
channel during these early months and years ; hence the 
responsibility resting on those who are intrusted with his 
earliest education in home and school. 

There are two reasons why sympathy as a characteristic of 
childhood should be, during the first few months, so weak as 
to be almost entirely lacking. The first is that the child's 
life at this time is so full of his own personal needs that he 
can pay but little attention to those of others ; the second, 
that he is as yet unable to comprehend the outward signs of 
feeling in others, because of the shortness of his own experi- 
ence. It seems probable that some of the earliest manifes- 
tations of apparently sympathetic feeling may be merely 
the result of sensori-motor suggestion. Sigismund noticed 
the first signs of sympathy at the end of the first three 



THE FEELINGS 89 

months, but Tiedemann says his boy, when only two months 
old, made sympathetic responses when consoled by the usual 
vocal expressions. Mr. Sully has observed the same thing. 
In another case a boy six months old drew a melancholy 
face, with mouth depressed, when his nurse pretended to 
cry. At seven months, another child manifested decided 
altruism, and seemed desirous of sharing his pleasures — 
with the exception of food — with others. In another case 
a child of eight months cried when some one pretended to 
whip his nurse, and another child of nearly the same age 
made a mournful whining noise, accompanied by the facial 
expression of " crying," on hearing another child cry, and 
also when a minor chord was struck on the piano. During 
the second year, sympathy becomes so strongly established 
that its outward evidences are sometimes seen, even on 
occasion of the imaginary sufferings of inanimate objects, 
and pictorial representation of suffering. A child of this 
age cried when her dolly was "hurt." Sympathy with 
human beings is, however, usually much stronger than ani- 
mal sympathy. A child of one year who returned home 
after a short absence, took no notice whatever of the cat or 
dog, but at once recognized his nurse and the other mem- 
bers of the family with pleasure. The strength of human 
sympathy, and the need of it in the child, is seen in the fact 
that when he is hurt, he rarely cries, unless there is some 
one near at hand to hear him. 

If we speak of a little child as naturally selfish and 
egotistic, it must be with certain important modifications. 
These terms cannot be applied to him in the same sense as 
to an adult, because he is not yet in possession of those ideas 
of property upon which the existence of genuine selfishness 
depends. The words "mine'^ and "yours" have at the first 
no meaning for him ; he cannot therefore be selfish in the 
sense of desiring to have what he knows to belong to another. 



90 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

When a little child grasps at a plaything in the hands of 
another, he is simply moved by the overpowering impulse 
to seize and handle, which is the outcome of natural curi- 
osity and muscular energy. To seize and handle things is 
a constitutional need in every normal child, and a most 
important factor in his development. 

Out of this germ, however, there develops at a very early 
age the proprietary instinct, and, along with it, the opposite 
characteristics of genuine selfishness and jealousy on the 
one hand, and genuine altruism and disinterested generosity 
on the other. And it would be untrue to say of the average 
child, that he is wholly controlled by either one of these pas- 
sions, to the exclusion of the other. An impartial diagnosis 
of his disposition will reveal both tendencies. The average 
child develops strong evidences of jealousy and egotism. 
We are all familiar with the stormy scenes that are enacted 
when the child of two or three years of age is called upon 
to share with a little brother or sister those attentions which 
up to this time had been bestowed exclusively upon himself. 
There is something exceedingly pathetic in the genuine pain 
and sorrow of heart which he experiences when he finds 
himself compelled to submit to these new and unwelcome 
conditions. 

On the other hand, the average child develops unmistak- 
able evidences of a genuine altruism. Any careful observer 
of childhood may notice frequent outbursts of spontaneous 
generosity and disinterested affection, whose peculiar charm 
lies in the very naivete and unconsciousness with which they 
are manifested. I give one example. A little boy of three 
expressed a desire to give some of his toys to a little crip- 
pled neighbor child, who had no playthings. When it was 
suggested to him that he might give some of his old, broken 
toys, he replied, " How can the poor little cripple boy play 
with broken toys, if I can't ? " 



THE FEELINGS 91 



VI. Disorders of Feeling 



To the foregoing accoimt of the different emotions among 
healthy children we may now add a description of certain 
disorders of emotion which make their appearance in chil- 
dren who are not in good health. We shall confine our ac- 
count to pathological hilarity, or exaltation, pathological 
sadness, or depression, pathological excitability or irritabil- 
ity, and pathological fickleness or instability of moods. 

Cheerfulness and exuberance of spirits are natural charac- 
teristics of healthy children. The attempt to suppress their 
hilarity by persuasion and rebuke meets with only partial 
success. Yet this healthy exuberance of feeling does not 
long continue at the same strength ; fatigue soon reduces 
the normal child to quietness. However, in some cases the 
boisterousness of the child is so strong that it cannot be 
reduced to moderation, even by rebukes and punishments. 
It persists for a long time without fatigue. The play of 
countenance in such children is characteristic ; and they can 
laugh by the hour at the most trifling things. In these 
cases the hilarity is pathological. It is known by the spe- 
cialist in mental diseases as hyperthumia : and it constitutes 
the principal symptom of mania (See Chapter VII.). 

Sadness is, properly speaking, a tendency foreign to 
childhood. If, in healthy children, a depression of spirits 
occurs through any cause, it usually passes very quickly 
away. Children carry " tears and laughter in the same 
satchel," as the saying goes. Yet in many children a sad 
disposition shows itself, without external cause, and con- 
tinues for considerable time. Such children no longer enjoy 
play, or take any interest in their lessons. They suffer 
from pathological sadness, which in psychiatry is known as 
dysthumia. Where the depression is less serious, a dull 
gravity takes the place of the normal hilarity of childhood. 



92 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

There is an inclination to tears and to self-affliction. Move- 
ment and facial expression betray an unmistakable languor; 
the voice is weak, and the gaze is directed habitually to the 
distance. In more serious cases the child is motionless and 
excessively reserved ; the eyes droop, the breathing is super- 
ficial and interrupted frequently by heavy sighs. Such children 
may even refuse all food, and may have to be fed by artificial 
means. Pathological depression is the principal symptom of 
melancholia, of which we shall treat in Chapter VII. 

We have already pointed out that the excitement of tem- 
per, especially in children, is something entirely normal. 
Temper becomes pathological only when it appears on the 
slightest occasion, and manifests itself with unusual strength 
and persistence ; it is then spoken of as pathological irrita- 
bility or irascibility. In children who suffer from this condi- 
tion anything may cause an attack of passion, in which they 
scream violently, stamp with the feet, throw themselves up- 
on the ground, turn a deaf ear to all persuasion, attack per- 
sons or even things in their rage, destroy things, and only 
cool down when compelled to by bodily fatigue. Patho- 
logical irritability is found most frequently in imbeciles, 
epileptics, and neurasthenics ; it shows itself with exceeding 
violence in epileptics and with unusual persistence in 
neurasthenics. 

On account of more rapid assimilation and more vigorous 
phantasy, alterations of mood are more rapid in children 
than in adults. The former pass more rapidly than the 
latter from cheerfulness to sadness, from complaisancy to 
sensitiveness, from modesty to arrogance, from geniality to 
unsociability. If the change of mood is induced by the 
most insignificant causes, or if no cause can be assigned, 
then we have a pathological condition, which may be called 
abnormal liability to moods. It appears almost exclusively 
in hysteria, on which account it is designated " hysterical 
moodiness." 



CHAPTER IV 

THE WILL 

We now approach the most difficult as well as the most 
important part of our subject : the most difficult, because of 
the exceedingly complicated character of every act of will ; 
the most important, because of the vast influence which 
any one's theory of volition must exert upon his moral and 
religious ideas. Not only is it true that " a being is capable 
of education and morality in proportion as he is capable of 
will," but it is also true that the most widely separated 
views touching human responsibility and destiny have 
grown out of apparently slight differences of opinion with 
regard to the nature and freedom of the will. The follow- 
ing theories are quoted to show the trend of contemporary 
opinion on the subject. 

In Preyer's view, the will is called into life by the union 
of two representations, viz.: 1st, that of the end desired; 
2nd, that of the movement necessary to attain the end. 
The latter is not absolutely necessary, and at a later 
period is no longer formed, except in the case of new move- 
ments. The idea of the end is sufficient, without that of the 
means. Will, then, is based upon, and grows out of, desire.^ 

1 Preyer's theory of the origin of will is not, however, an empirical one, 
as the following quotation will show : " It is an error to think that the will 
arises from impressions in youth ; . . . a will can never he created in a 
child from external experiences ; it must be allowed to develop itself from 
the inborn germ of will." 



94 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

In Guyau's opinion, also, a complete act of will involves 
representations of two sorts, viz. : Of the act about to be 
performed, and of another, contrary act, which might have 
been performed. Action, then, is the resultant of a struggle 
among tendencies.^ 

Perez says : " The will is born little by little from reflex, 
impulsive and instinctive movements, which, with the prog- 
ress of the faculties of perception and ideation, and after 
having been for a long time executed and varied, fall 
under the action of the attention, and become conscious, 
reflected, and, in a word, voluntary." Will in its negative 
form (inhibition), he holds to be also a matter at first of 
mechanism, unconscious and involuntary. It is a suppres- 
sion, or at least a reduction, of reflex, impulsive and instinc- 
tive movements, by the fact of an excitation of the brain, a 
sensation. Thus arrest consists at first simply in the sub- 
stitution of one tendency for another. 

Wundt, on the contrary, holds that there is no such thing 
as purely reflex and involuntary consciousness ; that activity 
of attention is in some degree present even in movements 
apparently the most mechanical.^ 

Professor James lays down, as the distinguishing mark of 
voluntary movements, an antecedent desire and intention to 
perform, and consequently a full jyrevision of what the 
action is to be. He therefore designates voluntary move- 
ments as secondary functions of our organism, while " reflex, 

i"La pleine volonte, c'est-a-dire le deploiement total des energies 
interieures, suppose qu'a la representation de I'acte meme qu'on va 
accomplir, s'associe la representation affaiblie de Facte contraire. Et 
ainsi, nous arrivons a cette conclusion : II n'y a pas d'acte pleinement 
voluntaire ou, ce que revient au meme, pleinement conscient, qui ne 
soit accompagne du sentiment de la victoire de certaines tendances 
inte'rieures sur d'autres, consequemment d'une lutte possible entre ces 
tendances, consequemment eufin d'une lutte possible contre ces ten- 
(Guyau). 
' Menschen und Thierseele." 



THE WILL 95 

instinctive and emotional movements are all primary per- 
formances." He makes voluntary movements depend on 
memory -images of former involuntary ones. " When a par- 
ticular movement, having once occurred in a random, reflex 
or involuntary way, has left an image of itself in the mem- 
ory, then the movement can be desired again, proposed as 
an end, and deliberately willed. But it is impossible to see 
how it could be willed before. A sujoply of ideas of the 
various movements that are possible, left in the memory by 
experiences of their involuntary performance, is thus the first 
prerequisite of the voluntary life. 

It will be seen that all these views corroborate the posi- 
tion taken in the present work, that mental phenomena 
undergo a process of transformation, in virtue of which, 
from being predominantly physiological, they become pre- 
dominantly psychical. We see now the application of this 
lawto movements or actions. The earliest child movements, 
in the opinion of these writers, are not voluntary, but only 
reflex, instinctive, etc. Intelligent apprehension of the end 
sought, and of the means by which that end is to be attained, 
has not yet taken place, and we may add that, until it has 
taken place, the movement is no more entitled to be called an 
action than is the swaying of a branch in the breeze, or the 
"action" of the piston-shaft of a locomotive. The conscious 
subject must first take hold of the movement, and put him- 
self forth in intelligent direction of that movement toward 
a conceived and desired end, and then it becomes transformed 
into an action. It seems necessary also, in order to avoid 
misunderstanding, to express our dissent from the view held 
by some of these writers, that the will is a derived product, 
or result of mechanical movements, a something which has 
been brought to the birth by the " travail together " of 
accidental motions in an animal organism. It is an obvious 
hysteron proteron to explain the rise of will by means of 



96 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

this principle of transformation, while the only possible way 
of explaining the transformation is by positing voluntary 
activity. It is said, for example, that will is horn (!) little 
by little out of reflex and instinctive movements, which have 
come within the scope of the attention ; and again that will 
is developed out of the desire of everything that has occa- 
sioned pleasurable feeling. Now both attention and desire, 
as we understand them, are impossible without volition. 
They involve active direction of the self toward the object, 
and this is volition. So far, then, from being the ante- 
cedents of will, they are modes of its manifestation, and 
instead of ascribing the birth of will to the transformation 
already spoken of, in virtue of which movements come 
within the scope of the attention, we should more correctly 
ascribe the transformation to the exercise of will. The will 
is the cause and not the effect of the transformation. It is 
correct enough to say with Preyer that will is developed in 
connection with these movements and desires — if by devel- 
opment is meant only growth and not genesis — but when it 
is asserted that will is generated out of actions to which 
attention and desire are directed, it is only necessary to ask : 
Out of what are attention and desire generated ? to reveal at 
once the insufficiency of the explanation. 

This criticism is all the more necessary here, because 
Professor Preyer's classification of child-movements, — as 
the most scientific and exhaustive yet made, — is adopted in 
the following pages. It can be accepted in toto, as a 
description and classification without our subscribing in the 
least to any particular theory of will-genesis that may have 
been founded upon it. The classification is as follows : 
First, we have a multitude of movements, not involving 
peripheral stimuli, but proceeding entirely from internal 
conditions. They are simply the result of an overflow of 
nervous energy, and require only motor — not sensori-motor 



THE WILL 97 

— processes. They are, of course, will-less, and are desig- 
nated impulsive movements. Secondly, we have those move- 
ments (very numerous in the new-born) which, though 
requiring peripheral stimuli, and, therefore, sensori-motor 
processes, do not involve active attention or effort, and are, 
therefore, will-less. These are the well-known sensori- 
motor reflexes. In the third place, there is a kind of move- 
ments — found in great abundance in the human being, and 
constituting, probably, the majority of the so-called actions 
of the lower animals — for which the physical and emotional 
organism is specially fitted by the action of heredity. These 
are the instinctive movements. Finally, there supervene on 
all these the bona fide actions of the person, involving desire 
of end, attention to the object, and representation of, and 
deliberation upon, 'the means of attainment, as well as the 
conscious forth-putting of the self in effort towards the reali- 
zation of the represented end. These are the ideational, or 
consciously deliberated and voluntary movements. We shall 
consider these in this order, only premising that because 
any given movement is here classed as impulsive or reflexive, 
it does not necessarily follow that it is never to be found 
in any other class. A movement, the same outwardly, may 
be at one time impulsive and at another ideational. This 
is one application of the principle of transformation. 

I. Impulsive Movements 

In the new-born these movements are numerous, and 
comprise all those spontaneous kickings • and rollings, 
awkward muscle-movements and comical grimaces, so 
noticeable in the early weeks of life. The hands strike 
right and left and move toward the face without any definite 
object ; the legs tramp and kick when the child is held up 
in the air ; the eyes may be observed to move before the lids 



98 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

are opened ; the limbs are stretched on awakening ; in short, 
almost every muscle of the body is exercised without any 
assignable peripheral stimulus. The movements are often 
symmetrical (by accident), but usually at first asymmetri- 
cal. Some of them (as yawning and stretching) persist 
through life, but the majority have disappeared by the end 
of the second year. Many of them are unexpected by the 
child himself ; he is evidently surprised to find himself per- 
forming a certain movement, and afterwards performs it 
voluntarily, with numberless repetitions, and evident pride 
in the newly discovered ability. 

The first smile doubtless belongs here, as also the peculiar 
crowing heard so frequently in the first year; and the 
numerous "accompanying" movements made by the child 
(such as holding the hands in a certain strained position, 
with the fingers spread out, while drinking, and the dreamy, 
wandering motions of the eyes during the act of sucking). 
A sleeping child suddenly threw up one of his hands, which, 
coming into contact with the eye, pushed the lid open. The 
infant slept on with one eye open, — the pupil very much 
contracted — until by-and-by the hand dropped and the eye 
closed. 

Although possessing in themselves no direct volitional 
significance, yet these impulsive movements are indirectly 
of great importance, inasmuch as they are the raw materials, 
upon which the gradually awakening child-will exercises 
itself, making them its own, and transforming them, by 
means of conscious activity, into voluntary actions properly 
so called. 

II. Reflex Movements 

These occur as the response of the nervous system to 
peripheral stimulation, without the participation of the idea. 
If they enter into consciousness at all, it is only during or 



THE WILL 99 

after their performance. They are found in the adult in 
great abundance as well as in the child ; and are very well 
exemplified in the sudden movements of the hands when 
one's hat is blown off in the street. Though heredity prob- 
ably plays a considerable part in facilitating them, yet they 
do not take place in the earliest infancy with that certainty 
and promptness by which they are characterized in later 
life, as we have seen in the case of eye movements. What 
seems to be transmitted is a potentiality, which needs expe- 
rience to transform it into an actuality. 

The law of transformation has an obvious application 
here. Indeed we see in the case of these movements a 
double transformation: that which was at first a reflex 
movement becomes afterwards a voluntary one ; and finally, 
by virtue of repetition, leading to the formation of a habit, 
it becomes once more reflex or automatic. Probably all 
mouth movements involved in the enunciation of articulate 
sounds pass through all these stages, as we shall see later. 

Eeflex movements are of great importance in will-growth, 
since upon them the voluntary movements, properly so called, 
supervene. On its negative side also (i.e., in inhibition) 
the will develops chiefly in connection with the repression 
of reflexes. 

The reflex activity of the nervous system comes into play 
from birth. And here the earliest and most prominent are 
the various respiration reflexes. The first cry is undoubt- 
edly of this character, since brainless children make them- 
selves heard in the first minutes of life as well as normal 
children.^ Sneezing, too, which in many new-born children 
takes the place of crying, is a pure reflex, as it continues to 
be through life, though the complex coordination of many 
muscles, by which it is accompanied, is not so complete in 

iSee several cases cited by Taine, "Intelligence," Part I. Book IV. 
Chap. I. 



100 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

the child as in the man. Other reflex movements connected 
with respiration are coughing, ivheezing, clioking, laughing 
when tickled, hiccoughing, and the like, all of which, with 
the exception of laughter, may probably be observed in the 
first week. A striking proof of the reflex sensibility of the 
respiratory apparatus is seen in the fact that a noise, just 
loud enough 7iot to awaken the sleeping child, has the effect 
of increasing the rapidity of the respirations. 

Starting at any sound or jar does not occur at the very 
first, but makes its appearance early. Generally there is 
silence for a moment after the disturbance, as though the 
energies were temporarily paralyzed. Champneys observed 
this starting first in the fourth week, but the child would 
not start twice at the same noise, unless it was very loud. 
Children are very susceptible to nervous stimuli, as is evi- 
dent from the frequency of convulsions in infant life. 

Eeflex movements of the limbs are numerous, prompt and 
early. On the seventh day Darwin tickled the sole of 
his child's foot with a piece of paper ; the foot was jerked 
away and the toes curled up. He remarks : " The perfection 
of these involuntary movements shows that the extreme 
imperfection of the voluntary ones is not due to the state of 
the muscles, or of the coordinating centres, but to that of 
the seat of the will." On the fourth day another child 
clasped a finger laid in his hand. From the fourteenth 
day on, tickling the sleeping child's temple was followed 
by a movement of the hand toward the place, though the 
hand did not always find the right spot. The left hand 
did not always respond, in Preyer's experiments, to stimu- 
lus applied to the left side, nor the right hand to the right 
side : but Pflliger found the responses constant in this 
respect.^ There seem, indeed, to be two sorts of reflexes : 

1 So also Baldwin. See "Infants' Movements" in Science, Jan. 8, 
1892. 



THE WILL 101 

the inborn (such as spreading the toes on tickling), which 
occur from the first hour of life with perfect regularity and 
accuracy ; and the acquired reflexes, which are neither prompt 
nor certain at first, but become so on repetition. 

Very important in this connection are the reflex eye- 
movements of the new-born child. The examples given in 
the first chapter of the responses of the infant eye to 
impressions of light, — turning towards the light, following 
a moving light or brightly colored object, etc., — are mostly 
examples of reflex movements, as are also those movements 
of the eyes which follow touch-impressions on the lashes, 
lids, etc. According to Preyer, there are "six different 
regular reflex movements from the optic nerve to the motor 
oculi alone, which appear in the case of light impressions." 

Least developed of all in the earliest period are the pain- 
rejlexes. The new-born in many cases makes no response 
whatever to the prick of a pin, as Genzmer has shown. The 
response takes place, however, when the stimulus is such as 
to affect a large number of nerve ends at the same time (a 
slap, for example). This tardiness of pain-reflexes in the 
new-born does not show that he is insensible to pain, — 
though he is, probably, less sensitive than the adult in this 
respect, — but simply that the nerve connections which make 
reflex movements possible are in the case of pain sensations 
less developed than those of the skin and mucous membrane. 

Finally the inhibition of reflexes, by which the will of the 
child develops on its negative side, is very diflBcult, and 
therefore a late attainment. In one case it was observed as 
early as the tenth month, in another, during the first quarter 
of the second year, when the child checked an impulse to 
scratch ; and in a third in the fifteenth month. In marked 
contrast to this is the inhibition of reflexes in the lower an- 
imals, where it often takes place before the end of the 
foetal period. 



102 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



III. Instinctive Movements 

These differ from impulsive movements in that they do 
not occur in the absence of appropriate peripheral stimuli. 
There is in the child an inborn instinct to seize with the 
hand, but this movement takes place only when the palm 
comes into contact with an object. They differ from 
impulsive movements also in having an end or purpose, 
though this end may not be known at the time of their per- 
formance.^ Besides the stimulus, they require a certain 
emotional condition. The child in a sorrowful frame of 
mind does not laugh when his toes are tickled. They differ 
from ideational movements in the absence of a pattern, and 
of any conscious effort, or previoi:s representation. 

One of the strongest instincts in a child is to seize 
objects and carry them to his mouth. Attempts at this have 
been observed as early as the fourth day. This propensity 
to make the mouth the test-organ for all sorts of objects, 
has been explained by the hypothesis that the lips may have 
been used in conjunction with the hands in an earlier period 
of race-progress, much more extensively than at present. 
The movements of the hands to the mouth may be at first 
accidental, and then instinctive, as in painful teething. It 
finally becomes reflex through the formation of habits. 
The contraposition of the thumb in seizing objects is 
quite slowly learned (in one case as late as the 12th week). 

As to the rise of right- or left-handedness. Professor Bald- 
win has made a large number of experiments, whose results 
may be summarized as follows : 

(1) No trace of preference for either hand was discernible 
so long as there were no violent muscular exertions made. 

1 "Instinct is . . . the faculty of acting in such a way as to produce 
certain ends without foresight of the ends, and without previous educa- 
ion in the performance." (James.) 



THE WILL 103 

111 over 2000 experiments, one hand was preferred as often 
as the other. 

(2) From the sixth to the tenth month, the tendency to 
use both hands together was about twice as great as the 
tendency to use either hand alone. (The figures are : Num- 
ber of experiments, 2187 ; right hand used alone 585 times, 
left hand alone 568 times, both hands together 1034 times.) 

(3) Right-handedness developed under the pressure of 
muscular effort. Preference for the right hand in violent 
efforts in reaching appeared in the seventh and eighth 
months. Experiments made in the eighth month gave this 
result : Right hand 74, left 5, both 1. Under the stimulus 
of bright colors, the right hand was employed 84 times, and 
the left hand only twice. 

Often there is a period of lef t-handedness in children who 
afterwards become right handed. In fact, as a result of 
some careful investigations on the subject of lef t-handed- 
ness in school children, the author believes that in the 
majority of cases where lef t-handedness persists to school 
age it is due to an inborn condition. 

Among instinctive mouth movements the earliest and 
most perfect is sucking. Sometimes, however, even this 
movement is far from perfect at the beginning. Many of 
the earliest efforts are quite fruitless, owing to failure in 
coordination. This movement doubtless takes place before 
birth, since it may be observed from the first moments of 
life. On its development, Kussmaul remarks to the follow- 
ing effect : An advance is made on the mere reflexes when 
the child sucks the finger thrust into his mouth, or the 
nipple of the breast. Here we have not only sensation, 
awakening movement, but also feelings of pleasure or dis- 
pleasure, with answering endeavors and mental representa- 
tions of the simplest kind. Finally the will learns to 
regulate these movements in the interests of the individual. 



104 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Other instinctive moutli movements are hiting (which 
begins about the fourth or fifth month, and supersedes suck- 
ing from the tenth month), chewing (which is performed 
with perfect regularity from the fourth month), grinding the 
teeth (which is quite original, and probably practised by all 
babes during teething), and licking (which is performed in 
the first twenty -four hours "hardly less adroitly than in the 
seventh month "). 

Learning to walk involves a whole series of preliminary 
accomplishments, first among which is the ability to hold 
the head in equilibrium, which may be accepted as the 
criterion of the rise of voluntary power. This is usually 
accomplished about the fourth month. The next stage is 
reached a month or two later in the ability to sit alone 
upright. When this is successfully accomplished for the 
first time, the soles of the feet are frequently turned towards 
each other. To stand alone is the next stage ; and any one 
who has watched the attempts of a little child to stand up- 
right and walk will be convinced that he is moved to this 
by a natural instinct.^ 

It is an important epoch in a child's life when he suc- 
ceeds in standing alone. Whole sets of muscles, heretofore 
scarcely used, are now brought into activity, and his prog- 
ress is, from this time on, more all-sided and symmetrical. 
/, Hitherto his locomotion has been only in the form of creep- 
ing (which is performed in a great variety of ways, some 
children paddling straight ahead on all fours, like little 
quadrupeds, some hitching along in an indescribable manner 
on their haunches, and some going backwards, crab- fashion) ; 
but for the child who has learnt to stand alone, the transi- 

1 Sigismund graphically describes the child's first attempts to stand 
in these words: "Das Kind ist selbst von seiner Verwegenheit iiber- 
rascht, steht angstlich mit weit gestellten Fiissen, und lasst sich bald 
etwas umsanft nieder." 



THE WILL 105 

tion to walking is, in a very literal sense, " only a step." 
The first conscious steps are taken very timidly, and with an 
evident fear of falling. But frequently the first steps are 
taken unconsciously. ' Sometimes a child who has learnt to 
walk, partially or wholly, reverts for a season to creeping, 
for no apparent reason..' Children who have older brothers 
or sisters are likely to walk at an earlier age than others, on 
account of the example and assistance of these older ones. 
At first the feet are placed disproportionately wide apart, 
giving rise to a curious waddling motion ; while sometimes 
a child runs instead of walking, and staggers, with the body 
inclined forward, and the hands stretched out as though he 
were afraid of falling, the feet, too, being lifted higher than 
is necessary. Many children seem more amiable after they 
have learned to walk, doubtless on account of their newly 
acquired ability, which not only occupies their attention, 
but enables them to go more readily to the objects of their 
desire. 

It is perhaps scarcely necessary to call attention to the 
fact that a movement may be instinctive and yet not make 
its appearance at the very beginning of life ; nor to the 
fact that instincts are not absolutely invariable, but are 
subject both to inhibition by habits and also to natural de- 
cay from desuetude.^ 

IV. Ideational Movements 

Finally, in virtue of the aimless and will-less execution 
of vast numbers of movements of the nature of those already 
treated, — impulsive, reflexive and instinctive, — it at 
length comes to pass that movements are performed which 
are the expression of the conscious self, the index of will in 

1 See Professor James' chapter on Instinct, " Principles of Psychol- 
ogy," Vol. II. 



106 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

the true and only proper sense of the word, involving a pre- 
vious representation of the end sought, and (in their earlier 
stages) of the movements involved in attaining that end, as 
well as a deliberate forth-putting of the self in conscious 
effort towards the attainment. To such movements, and 
to such only, should the name of actions be applied. All 
others are only movements. It must not be supposed that 
the little child passes per saltum from the condition indi- 
cated in the previous sections of this chapter, to that of 
explicit self-conscious activity. Indeed, it would be a very 
false view of child-development that represented the vari- 
ous stages as following one another in rigid succession, 
with hard and fast lines showing where the one ends and 
the next begins. They are rather to be compared to sur- 
faces, whose boundaries, vaguely outlined, overlap each 
other. There are a few impulsive movements, and very 
many reflex and instinctive ones, persisting to the end of 
life. 

We shall find it convenient to follow Professor Preyer's 
subdivision of ideational movements into three classes. In 
the lowest class, we have movements of imitation, which, 
though indicating activity of will (at least in their later 
stages), yet depend on a model or pattern, and are never 
performed by the child unless he first observes their per- 
formance by others. Next, we have expressive movements, 
which, as the name indicates, are a more or less conscious 
expression of feelings and desires; and finally, the full- 
fledged deliberative actions. 

(a) Imitative Movements. — These may be divided 
into two species, viz. : Simple imitation, in which the move- 
ment is only an approximate imitation, and no second at- 
tempt is made ; and persistent imitation, " which marks the 
transition from suggestion to will, from the reactive to 



THE WILL 107 

the voluntary consciousness." The former is exemplified 
in the single, isolated attempt on the child's part to repro- 
duce a sound made by another person ; the latter, in the 
repeated efforts of a girl of fourteen months to put a rubber 
on a pencil, after having seen her father do it, or of a boy of 
twelve months, to get a cord into the hole of a spool. 

Two points should be mentioned before we proceed to 
record observations in this connection. First : When a 
child for the first time voluntarily imitates a given move- 
ment, which he has already performed involuntarily a num- 
ber of times, he does it far less perfectly than when he did 
it without conscious imitation. " If I clear my throat, or 
cough purposely, without looking at the child, he often gives 
a little cough likewise, in a comical manner. But if I ask : 
'Can you cough?* he coughs, but generally copying less 
accurately." Second: It must not be supposed, even 
when a child imitates a movement deliberately and with a 
clear idea of it, that he understands in every case the mean- 
ing of the movement. One child, in the tenth month, had 
learned to imitate the movement of beckoning, but he 
showed by the expression of his face and the attendant 
gestures, that he did not in the least comprehend the sig- 
nificance of the beckoning. 

As early as the third and fourth months, according to one 
writer, children perform little tricks which indicate the 
buddings of the imitative propensity. Eaw attempts at 
vocal imitation may be observed even in the second month, 
when the child makes a response to words addressed to him. 
This, however, is mechanical. In the third month the child 
will imitate looks, i.e., he will look at an object which others 
are looking at. Egger saw, in the sixth month, an in- 
stance of imitation, together with the act of recollection 
which it involves. Champneys says of his child: "About 
the thirteenth week he began to appear to attempt to join 



108 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

in conversation, with a variety of articulate sounds, if talk- 
ing was going on in the room." Preyer observes : The first 
attempt at imitation occurred in the fifteenth week, the 
child making an attempt to purse the lips when one did it 
close in front of him. In the seventeenth week, the " pro- 
truding of the tip of the tongue between the lips was per- 
fectly imitated once when done before the child's face, and 
the child in fact smiled directly at this strange movement, 
which seemed to please him." 

There is no point on which I find so much uniformity as 
this, that imitation begins during the second half of the 
first year. This is true of almost all children without 
exception, so far as I know, and extends not only to move- 
ments proper, but also to vocal imitation, as we shall see. 
A boy of seven months tried hard to say simple mono- 
syllables after his mother. Another is reported to have 
accomplished his first unmistakable imitations when seven 
months old, in movements of the head and lips, laughing, 
and the like. Crying was imitated in the ninth month, 
and in the tenth, imitation of all sorts was quite correctly 
executed, though even at the end of the first year new 
movements, and those requiring complex coordination, often 
failed. A child of eight and a half months, having seen 
his mother poke the fire, afterwards crept to the hearth, 
seized the poker, thrust it into the ash-pan, and poked it 
back and forth with great glee, chuckling to himself. An- 
other child, in his tenth month, imitated whistling, and 
later, the motions accompanying the familiar " pat-a-cake," 
etc. In his eleventh month he used to hold up the news- 
paper, and mumble in imitation of reading. Another 
boy, in his eleventh month, used to cough and sniff like his 
grandfather, and amused himself by grunting, crowing, 
gobbling and barking in imitation of the domestic ani- 
mals and birds. A little girl of this age used to reproduce 



THE WILL 109 

with her doll some of her own experiences, such as giving it 
a bath, punishing it, kissing it, and singing it to sleep. 

One fine morning in May I took the little boy, E.., for a 
walk through a beautiful avenue, where the trees on each 
side met overhead in a mass of foliage. These trees were 
full of birds, busy with their nest building, and full of song. 
The little fellow was fairly enchanted. He could not go 
on. Every few steps he would stop (at the same time pulling 
at my hand to make me stop, too), and looking up into the 
trees, with his head turned on one side, would give back the 
bird-song in a series of warbling, trilling notes of indescrib- 
able sweetness. I very much doubt whether any adult voice, 
however trained, or any musical instrument, however com- 
plicated, could reproduce those wonderful inflections. The 
same boy, a little later, used to imitate with his voice the 
boys whistling in the street, giving the right pitch. An- 
other boy, at thirteen months, brushes his hair, tries to put 
on his shoes and stockings, and many other similar things. 
Indeed the whole life of the child of this age is full of 
imitation. Going out with the girl, F., I observed that she 
did almost everything I did ; I brushed some dust from my 
coat and she immediately " brushed " her dress in like man- 
ner. It is in fact difficult fully to realize how the child of 
this age is watching our every movement, and learning 
thereby. Not only parents and teachers, but every one who 
comes in contact with the child, even casually and occasion- 
ally, contributes his share, whether he will or not, in the 
child's education. The moral of this is too obvious to re- 
quire repetition. 

(b) Expressive Movements. — These arise out of those 
already treated of. Impulsive, reflex, instinctive and even 
the simpler imitative movements, are not intentional expres- 
sions of mental states. But a movement which was at first 



110 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

impulsive or reflex may become the manifestation of such 
states. The first cry and the first puckering of the mouth 
(which Kussmaul noticed in children less than an hour old, 
when a bitter substance was brought into contact with the 
tongue) are only the reaction of the organism to external 
stimuli. But later, both the cry and the gesture fall within 
the control of the will, and are transformed into the pur- 
posive utterances of the conscious self. Many, perhaps 
most, of the expressive movements are impulsive or other 
movements which have been thus transformed. 

The first so-called smile, for example (which may be ob- 
served in children less than two weeks old), is simply an 
impulsive movement resulting from agreeable feeling; and 
a reflex laugh may be elicited from a child very early by 
tickling the soles of his feet. In one case the first real 
smiles were observed from the 26th day; and in the eighth 
week enjoyment of music was manifested by laughing and 
smiling, accompanied by lively movements of the limbs, and 
a bright, gleaming expression of the eyes. The imitative 
laugh began about the ninth month. Egger thinks the 
time whe;i intelligence, properly speaking, appears, is marked 
by the advent of the laugh, which he observed for the first 
time after the fortieth day. Sigismund first observed a 
smile in the seventh week. Many children, he says, smile 
first in sleep; then soon after in response to the friendly 
looks of others. This responsive smile he believes is the 
first sign of consciousness of and response to sensations 
received from others. Many have observed the smile as 
early as the second and third or even the first week, but so 
far as I am aware, no one attributes conscious expression to 
the smile of a child less than a month old. Mr. Darwin 
believes he saw a smile of mental origin on the forty-fifth 
day. M. Guyau thinks the smile is reflex in its origin. 
Tiedemann observed a smile in the second month, and genu- 



THE WILL 111 

ine laughter in the third. So also several others. The 
boy, C, laughed aloud when being undressed. He was then 
three months old. Three weeks later, when some one was 
reading aloud, he laughed and cooed until the reader was 
obliged to stop. He evidently thought the reading was in- 
tended for his special entertainment. A boy of the same 
age laughed aloud one day without any apparent cause. 
The psychic development of the smile is well stated in the 
following words : " The smile begins when the infant first 
begins to be conscious of outside things ; attention gradually 
becomes closer and more fixed ; the smile at this stage is the 
mere stare, vacant at first, but growing steadily more intel- 
ligent and wondering in its appearance. About the third 
week this begins to relax very slightly into the appearance 
of pleasure. At this point there comes first more and more 
of a glow on the face — a beaming — then in a day or two a 
very slight relaxation of the muscles, increasing every day. 
This dawning smile is often very beautiful, but it is not yet 
a smile. It is almost a smile, but I am confident no one 
will ever know the exact day when the baby fairly and 
intelligently for the first time smiles.'' 

On Pouting and Pursing the Lij^s as an expressive move- 
ment, Preyer observes in substance : There are three sorts 
of pouting, differing from each other according to the cause. 
First, there is a protrusion of the lips, which may be 
observed in some children from the first hour of life, and 
which is purely impulsive. Secondly, the pursing of the 
mouth when attention is closely strained (as in learning to 
write or draw). This appears as early as the fifth week, 
and continues to the end of life in many instances. Thirdly, 
the pout of sullenness, which makes its appearance much 
later than the others, and is not due to imitation (for it 
occurred where there had been no opportunity for imita- 
tion), but is undoubtedly hereditary. 



112 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

The kiss, as an expressive action, is, on the other hand, 
not hereditary, but acquired. Some nations do not practise 
it. The child has to learn it, and he is somewhat late in 
learning it, as observations show. Very seldom does the 
child understand its meaning, or give it spontaneously, until 
the second year of life. 

The child's cry is at first not expressive ; and when it 
becomes so, it varies greatly in different children. Accord- 
ing to one observer, " Crying took place at first without any 
squaring of the mouth, the sound was that of 'nga' as 
expressed in German. It must have been produced by clos- 
ing the fauces by contact of the pillars of the fauces and the 
soft palate, so as to send all the sound through the nose. 
Vowel sounds were then produced by separating the soft 
palate and the pillars of the fauces, and allowing the sound 
to come through the mouth." He goes on to say that 
the child seemed to cry at first for three reasons : Loneliness 
or fright, hunger, or pain ; and these cries seemed all differ- 
ent in character ; but he does not say when this difference 
became apparent. The first crying is only squalling; it 
has no expressive intonations. The transition from the 
meaningless cry to the significant voice,, with different cries 
to express different mental states, has been observed as 
early as the second month, and in other cases during the 
third month. The little girl, W., when four months old, 
"expressed hunger by cries that were short and shrill, fol- 
lowing each other rapidly, and not so loud as other cries." ^ 

Weeping. — The new-born do not shed tears, no matter 
how hard they cry. At a later period they cry and weep 
together, and they can also cry without weeping. But to 
weep without crying comes much later, and is compara- 
tively rare in childhood. One or two cases are reported of 

1 For further remarks on this transition from the meaningless to the 
significant cry see Chap. V, sec. IIL 



THE WILL 113 

tears being shed by children two -weeks old, but most of the 
observations point to a later date. In one case the first 
tears were shed at the end of the third week, in another in 
the fourth week, while in other cases tears were seen to flow 
down the face in the sixth, ninth, twelfth, fourteenth, fif- 
teenth and sixteenth weeks respectively. Darwin's child 
shed tears in the twentieth week, but as early as the tenth 
his eyes were moist in violent crying. He thinks that 
children do not usually shed tears until the second, third 
or fourth month. From the second year onward, children 
weep much more easily than at an earlier period, and, later 
still, the inhibition both of tears and crying is a significant 
mark of the growing power of the will. 

Nodding the head in assent, and shaking it in refusal, are 
at first entirely different from each other in mental signifi- 
cance. The latter is an inborn reflexive or instinctive 
movement, while the former is acquired. The child who 
has satisfied his hunger, will turn his head from side to 
side in refusal of further proffered nourishment when less 
than a week old. This movement becomes expressive almost 
from the first. It is generally accompanied by the partial 
closing of the eyes, and often by arm-movements &f '' ward- 
ing off." Nodding in one case was not imitated until the 
fourteenth month, and even then very imperfectly. Even 
after it was finally learnt, its meaning was often confounded 
with that of shaking the head. The child would shake his 
head for '' yes," and nod it for " no." In another case, both 
nodding and shaking the head had become expressive by 
the fifteenth month. 

Other examples of expressive movements which may be 
observed in children at a very early age, are the following : 
Clasping the hands together, or waving them very quickly 
back and forwards, or up and down, to express eager desire 
for something ; reaching out with uplifted hands and ex- 



114 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

tended arms for the same purpose, or even sometimes clap- 
ping the hands quickly together, after the manner of an 
" encore " ; violent straightening of the back in anger ; a 
curious bearing, almost indescribable, showing vanity ; be- 
sides several gestures expressive of affectation, and a variety 
of facial expressions and vocal inflections impossible to 
describe. "Jealousy, pride, pugnacity, covetousness, lend 
to the childish countenance a no less characteristic look 
than do generosity, obedience, ambition." All these facial 
expressions and bodily movements " appear in greater purity 
in the child, who does not dissemble, than they do in later 
life." 

(c) Deliberative Movements. — Finally we reach that 
stage — not necessarily subsequent to all the others, but 
partially synchronous with them — in which the will rises 
to its proper place as " master of ceremonies," brings into 
subjection the impulsive and instinctive tendencies of which 
we have spoken, and assumes control of the child's activities. 
To express this truth by saying that the faculty of will has 
come into being, is misleading, simply because there is no 
" faculty " of will considered as a separate entity. The will 
is the person considered as active ; and, instead of saying 
that, with the advent of what we call ideational movements, 
the will is born, and with that of deliberative movements it 
is perfected, it would be more correct to say that these move- 
ments are the first outward indications that the child is 
becoming the conscious master of his own activity. 

In order to perform deliberative or voluntary actions in 
the proper sense of the term, it is necessary that the child 
should have had experience of a large number of movements 
of the involuntary sort. For, like the man, he can create 
nothing ; the most he can do, is to combine and separate, to 
analyze and synthesize the materials that come to his hand. 



THE WILL 115 

Man's greatest achievements consist simply in modifying, 
changing, separating, combining and rearranging familiar 
material. So the child in all his numerous movements 
accomplishes nothing absolutely new ; he only uses old 
movements, varying them, it is true, in numberless ways, 
but really adding nothing of his own creation. Therefore 
the exercise of voluntary activity requires memory of invol- 
untary muscular movements previously executed. For a 
voluntary movement is one which is pictured beforehand in 
the imagination, or, if the movement itself be not thus pic- 
tured, the end of the movement, at least, must be. But in 
order to represent, we must first present; or in other words, 
in order to imagine a movement, either in process or in 
product, that movement must first have been perceived ; and 
this means that the child must have seen it performed by 
others, and felt it performed by himself — involuntarily — 
before he could perform it deliberately. So we find that 
deliberative movements are gradually acquired, and super- 
vene upon a vast number of impulsive, reflexive and instinc- 
tive movements. For example, grasping with the hand is 
at the beginning a pure reflex, as we have seen, but gradu- 
ally, after many repetitions, this movement is remembered ; 
actual performance of the movement has led to the formation 
of a mental image of it, as well as a more perfect physio- 
logical adjustment favoring its performance. So that when 
desire, in the proper sense of the word, takes place, atten- 
tion is bestowed upon the object sought and on the movement 
involved, and the action is deliberately performed. So we 
see that a strictly deliberative movement — an action — 
presupposes desire, attention and memory-images. It is 
therefore not to be expected that we shall find bona fide 
actions in very young infants. Preyer found no movement 
in the first three months which could be announced with 
absolute certainty as a deliberative movement. Tiedemann 



116 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

saw the first intended holding of objects in the fourth month. 
Another child, at six months, showed a great deal of per- 
sistent effort. " He would over and over again seem to be 
trying to solve the problem of the hinge to his nursery- 
door, patiently and with riveted attention opening and 
shutting the door. Day after day saw him at his self- 
appointed task." A boy of eleven months, in striking 
a spoon against another object, would suddenly change it to 
the other hand, apparently testing whence the noise pro- 
ceeded. When fourteen months old, while playing with a 
tin can, he put the cover on and off " not less than seventy- 
nine times without stopping a moment, his attention mean- 
time strained to the utmost." Indeed the child's attention 
seems capable of surprising prolongation in connection with 
muscular movement. A little girl of nineteen months 
brought out her toy blocks to show me. I helped her to 
build houses with them. Delighted with this play, she 
showed a surprising persistence ; and when I grew tired and 
wished to stop, she made me keep on longer. It is by 
means of this incessant activity that the child develops 
both mentally and physically. 

The ability to inhibit movements, though often difficult 
to observe with accuracy, seems to me one of the most cer- 
tain criteria of the presence of will. To keep himself from 
moving is surely more difficult than to move, in a being so 
constitutionally restless as the average child. Children of 
five months, others of six, and others of seven or eight 
months, have been observed to refrain from reaching for 
an object that was much beyond their reach. The little 
boy, R., when threatened with punishment for continued 
crying, is able to desist. 

The development of desire and attention has perhaps been 
sufficiently indicated in the foregoing paragraphs. Desire, 
in the proper sense of the word, is the primary stage in 



THE WILL IIT 

every volition ; and no volition can take place without atten- 
tion. The child's attention is comparatively weak and inter- 
mittent. He cannot attend to the unimpressive, the stimulus 
must be strong, must be on the motor side, and must be 
frequently renewed. His attention is very easy to obtain, 
but very hard to retain. This double fact in his nature 
renders him capable of education, but at the same time makes 
his education a gradual process, which must consist largely 
in the formation of right habits in him through imitation, 
to which, as we have seen, he is so excessively prone. 
M. Guyau indeed goes so far as to say that by a judicious 
use of the child's susceptibility to imitative suggestion we 
may make of him almost what we please. And this seems 
indeed not far from the truth, when we consider the child's 
wonderful susceptibility to every passive impression, and 
his no less wonderful predisposition to reproduce it in his 
own untiring activity. 



CHAPTER V 
LANGUAGE i 

The profound psychogenetic significance of the language 
function, not only as an index of mind development, but 
also as a factor in that development, justifies its treatment 
in a separate chapter. Such separate treatment would not 
otherwise be justifiable, inasmuch as language does not con- 
stitute a new psychic phenomenon, or class of phenomena, 
differing in any essential respect from those already treated. 
It rather partakes of the nature of them all, and consti- 
tutes a grand product of their conjoint operation. 

Although our chief attention is occupied here with the 
spoken word, this is by no means the only form of language. 
In its broadest sense, language includes every means by 
which thought is communicated, and hence gestures are a 
form of language as truly as speech. 

In order to the employment of language of any sort, 
there must be, in the first place, sensation. If sounds are 
to be intelligently uttered, they must first be heard. The 
child who is born deaf, and continues in that condition, does 
not learn to speak. In the second place, language presup- 
poses perce2Jtion smd judgment. The sounds must not only 
be heard, they must be understood. A meaning must be 
attached to them. Otherwise they will never be given back 
by the child as the expression of his thought ; i.e., as his 

1 This chapter first appeared as an article entitled, "The Language 
of Childhood," in the American Journal of Psychology, Vol. VI. No. I. 
118 



LANGUAGE 119 

language. In the third place, it is essential to any advance 
beyond the merest linguistic rudiments that abstraction and 
generalization take place ; for the communication of thought, 
in its highest forms, cannot take place until there has been 
attained the comprehension of the general as distinguished 
from the particular, and of the abstract as distinguished 
from the concrete.^ Finally, passing from the cognitive to 
the volitional aspect of mind, it is obvious that language 
in its most essential characteristic — ue., as expression — 
belongs to the will. Every expression of thought, whether 
it be word or mark or gesture, is the result of an act of will, 
and as such may be classed among movements. 

It is not, therefore, as constituting a new order of facts, 
different from thoughts and feelings and volitions, but 
rather as illustrating the development of these, and enter- 
ing as a factor in that development, that language receives 
this separate place. We judge of the child's mental de- 
velopment largely by the rapidity of his progress towards a 
skilful manipulation of the instruments of expression. 

I. Heredity vs. Education in Language 

There is no psychological problem to the solution of 
which a study of the infant mind may be expected to con- 
tribute more largely than this: What is hereditary, and 
what is acquired, in the sphere of language ? Long before 
maturity is attained, such an abundance of acquired ma- 
terial has been added to our original store, and through 
constant repetition, the two have become so transformed, 
modified and assimilated in character, that we are no 
longer able to distinguish the one from the other. But from 
the beginning it was not so. If a child executes a gesture, 

1 On the other hand, thought itself cannot attain to any great degree of 
generality without the aid of language. Thought and language are mu- 
tually helpful, and conduce each to the development of the other. 



120 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

or utters a sound, at an age so early as to exclude the possi- 
bility of imitation or spontaneous invention on his part, we 
may conclude that the sound or the gesture — or at least the 
disposition to express himself in this manner — has been 
born with him. Here only, then, are we able to apply the 
logical method of difference to the solution of the problem. 

It is obvious at a glance that speech is a product of the 
conjoint operation of these two factors : heredity and educa- 
tion. If, on the one hand, we observe the initial babbling 
of the infant, and notice its marvellous flexibility, and the 
enormous variety of its intonations and inflections — and 
this at an age so early as to preclude observation and imita- 
tion of others, — it will be apparent that the child has come 
into the world already possessing a considerable portion of 
the equipment by which he shall in after years give expres- 
sion to his feelings and thoughts. If, on the other hand, 
we carefully observe him during the first two years of his 
life, and note how the intonations, and afterwards the words, 
of those by whom he is surrounded, are given back by him 
— at first unconsciously, but afterwards with intention — 
and how, when conscious imitation has once set in, it plays 
thenceforth the preponderating rdle, — we shall readily be- 
lieve that, without this second factor, but little progress 
would be made towards speech-acquirement. 

It may be well to consider briefly how these two factors 
enter at every point in the development of language. For 
example, in order to speak, the child must possess first of 
all a sensory and motor physiological apparatus. This phys- 
iological apparatus, including the auditory structure for the 
reception of sounds, the inter-central and centro-motor cells 
and nerve tracts for the accomplishment of connection be- 
tween the impression and the expression, and the organs of 
vocal utterance (larynx, palate, tongue, lips, teeth), is his 
inheritance from the past ; but in the new-born child it is 



LANGUAGE 121 

all imperfect, both in structure and in functioning ; and its 
development requires the constant molding influence of 
those educating agencies by which the human being is sur-' 
rounded from the moment of his entrance into the world. 

Again, the disposition to utter sounds of all sorts, and to 
express states of feeling by them, is undoubtedly inherited, 
since, from the very beginning of life, and quite indepen- 
dently of all example, the child constantly exercises his 
vocal organs. But in spite of this, so inadequate is heredity 
alone, that the child will not learn the language of his par- 
ents, unless he be in the society of those who employ it. 
If brought up among savages, he will speak their language; 
if among wolves, he will howl.^ 

In making this statement, we do not overlook those re- 
markable cases in which children have invented a language 
of their own, quite different from that spoken around them ; 
and persisted for some time in using the former and entirely 
ignoring the latter. Mr. Horatio Hale gives an account of 
five different cases in which this has occurred, two in the 
United States and three in Canada. In one case this in- 
vented vocabulary consisted of twenty-one root-forms, out 
of which, *by combination and modification, the children 
developed a complete language, by which, with the aid of 
gesture, all their wants could be communicated ; and in all 
the cases the invented language was sufficient for all inter- 
course as between the children themselves ; and was per- 
sistently used until the children were finally broken of it, 
by being separated or sent to school. In all these cases, it 
is to be observed, the child did not learn the language of his 
parents in the absence of those who employed it. It is also 
to be noted that the new language was invented, not by one 

1 " It is found tbat young birds never have the song peculiar to their 
species, if they have not heard it ; whereas, they acquire very easily the 
song of almost any other bird with which they are associated." — Alfred 
Russel Wallace, Natural Selection. 



122 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

child, but by two. Language is possible in all normal chil- 
dren ; it becomes actual only in the presence of a companion. 
But given the companion, and scarcely any limit can be set 
to the possibilities of development. Indeed, Mr. Hale has 
given us a theory of language, in which the origin of lin- 
guistic stocks is attributed to the inventiveness of children 
who have become separated from their tribe when very 
young ; and in the light of such facts as those given above, 
the theory seems highly probable. On the other hand, that 
the child shall speak any specific tongue now existing de- 
pends on his education. He does not inherit any particular 
tongue or dialect. Some think he will acquire his mother- 
tongue with greater facility than any other, yet even this 
may be doubted. "Speech is hereditary, but not any par- 
ticular form of speech." There may be an inherited ten- 
dency to find certain sounds difficult, as sh to the ancient 
Ephraimite, or th to the modern Frenchman, but this is only 
a tendency, and does not prevent the child from learning 
any language perfectly, if his education begins early enough. 

Again, the careful study of the language of signs makes 
it quite clear that many gestures are inherited (e.g., holding 
out the hands to express desire, which is world-wide, and 
is executed by children who have never seen it done), but 
the development of gesture into anything like a complicated 
system of expression is quite dependent on the social en- 
vironment. Of course this is only another way of saying 
that language, being the instrument for the communication 
of thought, is not developed in the absence of beings to 
whom thought can be communicated. 

Thus, then, the case seems to stand with regard to the 
respective spheres of heredity and education in the produc- 
tion of language. As regards the child's present endowment 
and capabilities at the moment of his entrance into the 
world, " he is the product, the result of the generations 



LANGUAGE 123 

whicli have preceded him ; he is the visible link which con- 
nects the past with the future " ; but with regard to that 
which he is to be, and the legacy which he in his turn shall 
transmit to those who shall succeed him, he is very largely 
dependent on his physical and social environment ; and all 
those who compose that environment, assist, whether they 
will or no, in his education. 

II. The Physiological Development 

If the question were asked. Why does not the new-born 
child talk ? two answers might be given. In the first 
place, there is a psychological reason, viz., he has, as yet, 
no ideas, and has, therefore, nothing to say. In the sec- 
ond place, there is a physiological reason, viz., his speech- 
apparatus is as yet so imperfectly developed that he could 
not express ideas if he had them. 

In the same way, if the question were asked. Why does 
any person ever lose the power of speech ? similar answers 
might be given. He either loses his ideas, through some 
mental disorder, or he loses the power of expression through 
some physiological disorder. The two cases are, moreover, 
parallel in another sense, inasmuch as the acquirement of 
ideas in the one case, and their failure in the other, are 
closely associated with, if not indeed quite dependent upon, 
the presence or absence of the physiological functions. 

The physiological reason, then, why the child does not 
yet speak, lies in the undeveloped state of the speech- 
apparatus. " The lungs are not yet developed in a degree 
and manner sufficient for articulate speech. The expiration 
needs to be strong, and exactly regulated. Now, in the 
infant, the pectoral muscles are still developed in a very 
small degree ; the breathing is accomplished much more 
through the fall of the diaphragm than through the active 
extension of the pectoral cavity. Hence, breathing move- 



124 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

ments are more superficial and more irregular than in later 
years. Artificial speech requires complete control of the 
breathing mechanism, which the child has not yet got. To 
his speech-instrument is still wanting a large number of 
strings, whistles and registers. The organs of speech are 
the lungs, air tubes, larynx and vocal cords, the mouth, 
with tongue, palate, lips and teeth. The lungs create the 
stream of air ; the tone and voice are formed by the larynx ; 
according as the vocal cords open wider or come nearer, 
arises the deeper or higher tone. The form of the tone 
{i.e., vowel a or o, etc., consonant h or /, etc.) depends on 
the form of the mouth at the time. Now the larynx is stili 
very small and undeveloped in its form, and so with the 
tongue, the lips and the muscles moving them ; and as for 
the teeth, they are still entirely wanting." The unde- 
veloped condition of the auditory apparatus, and of the 
brain, have also to be considered in this connection. 

On the other hand, it needs to be borne in mind that the 
relation between the organs of speech and speech itself is 
a reciprocal one. If speech depends on the organs, it is also 
true that the organs depend on speech, and are not devel- 
oped except by exercise. As one learns to play on the 
harp by playing on the harp, so the child learns to speak 
by speaking. The exercise of the vocal organs develops 
them, so that they become capable of higher exercise. 

The foetal lungs contain no air, and lie, packed in a com- 
paratively small compass, at the back of the thorax. They 
undergo very rapid and remarkable changes after birth, in 
consequence of the commencement of respiration. They ex- 
pand so as to completely cover the pleural portions of the 
pericardium, their margins become more obtuse, and their 
whole form less compressed. The entrance of the air changes 
their texture so that it becomes more loose, light and spongy, 
and less granular ; while the great quantity of blood, which, 



LANGUAGE 125 

from this time on, circulates through them, greatly increases 
their weight, and changes their color. The proportion of 
their weight to that of the body becomes nearly twice as 
great as before, while their specific gravity, after the be- 
ginning of respiration, becomes very much less. 

The trachea, or windpipe, which connects the lungs with 
the larynx, is in the embryo almost closed, its anterior and 
posterior walls being very near each other. The small 
space remaining is filled with mucus. With the exercise 
of respiration, the mucus is expelled, and the tube itself 
gradually becomes more distended, but its anterior wall does 
not for some time become convex. With the growth of the 
child, the cartilages forming the "ribs " of the trachea be- 
come stronger and better able to bear their part in the forcible 
expiration of air which is required for speech. 

The larynx, which is the organ most directly concerned 
in the production of " voice " or " tone," is an exceedingly 
complicated mechanism, consisting of a framework of carti- 
lages comprising no less than nine distinct parts, connected 
by elastic membranes or ligaments, two of which, from their 
specially prominent position, are named the true vocal cords. 
In speaking and singing, these cartilages are moved relatively 
to one another by the laryngeal muscles. The larynx is 
situated at the upper end of the trachea, the mucous lining 
of the two organs being continuous. At the time of birth, 
this organ is very small and narrow, and continues com- 
paratively insignificant up to the period of adolescence, 
when rapid and remarkable changes take place, especially 
in the case of the male, where it becomes much more promi- 
nent, and the pomum adami protrudes so as to be perceptible 
at the throat. 

The tongue is composed very largely of muscular fibres, 
running in various directions, such as the superior and 
inferior lingual muscles, which move the organ up and 



126 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



down, and the transverse fibres, by which it is moved from 
side to side. Besides these, we have the various glossal 
muscles, which, though extrinsic to the tongue itself, yet 
are implicated in its operations. These muscles are all 
more or less flabby in the new-born, and become strong only 
by nutrition and exercise. A similar remark applies to the 
lips; while the teeth, without which the dental and labio- 




FiG. 1. — A, B, and C. Stages of development 
of the child's cerebrum. S, Fissure of Sylvius. 
R, Fissure of Rolando. 

dental consonants can never be properly pronounced, are at 
the beginning of life entirely absent. 

The hrain of the foetus is comparatively deficient in con- 
volutions, and presents a smooth, even appearance. The 
first of the primary fissures to appear is the fissure of 
Sylvius, which is visible during the third month. The 
other primitive sulci also begin to appear about this time, 
and by the end of the fifth month are well established. 
The secondary sulci make their appearance from the fifth 
or sixth month on. The first of these to be seen is the 
fissure of Rolando. " By the end of the seventh month, 



LANGUAGE 127 

nearly all tlie chief features of the cerebral convolutions 
and sulci have appeared. The last fissures to appear are 
the inferior occipito-temporal, and a small furrow cross- 
ing the end of the calloso-marginal." But long after the 
extra-uterine life begins, the child-brain is still deficient in 
many of the higher processes, the association fibres being the 
last to develop. The convolutions are for a long time com- 
paratively simple, and their increasing complexity as life ad- 
vances stands to the exercise of the various faculties, partly 
in the relation of antecedent, and partly as consequent. 

Speech, then, in the little child is a potentiality, though 
not an actuality. He is, as it were, in possession of the 
machine, but the belts have not yet been adjusted to the pul- 
leys, nor has he yet learned to handle the instrument. The 
inability to speak is not, therefore, an abnormal state at 
the beginning of life, any more than the inability to write, 
or swim, or play the piano. It is merely an imperfect 
state. But the inability to learn to speak is abnormal, and 
its cause must be sought, not in immaturity, but in abnor- 
mality of the physiological or psychological structures and 
processes involved. The one is an unnatural condition, into 
which the child has fallen ; the other a natural condition, 
out of which he will gradually rise. 

III. The Phonetic and Psychic Development 

We shall here, first of all, give a sort of outline history 
of the speech-progress of the average child during the first 
two years, generalizing from a large number of actual obser- 
vations (made by different persons on different children) 
and proceeding by periods of six months each ; then we 
shall give summarized statements of a number of child- 
vocabularies that have been carefully compiled at different 
ages; and finally, we shall examine what general conclu- 
sions may be drawn from the material at hand and set 



128 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

down as empirical laws awaiting further substantiation. 
I say "empirical laws," because children differ so much, 
from each other, and reliable observations are so compara- 
tively scanty, that, for the present, general statements must 
be held in abeyance, or made only tentatively. 

First Six Months. — "In Thuringia," says Sigismund, 
" they call the first three months ' das dumme Vierteljahr,' " 
and during the second three months, according to Schultze, 
no advance is made on the first. It might seem, then, that 
in this first half-year there is nothing worthy of our attention 
in the matter of language. This, however, is very far from 
being the case, for in this period a most important appren- 
ticeship is going on. The little child, even in the cradle, 
and before he is able to raise himself to a sitting posture, 
is receiving impressions every waking moment from the 
environment; is hearing the words, seeing the gestures, and 
noting — in a manner perhaps not purely involuntary — 
the intonations of those around him ; and out of this mate- 
rial he afterwards builds up his own vocabulary. Not 
only so, but during this period, that peculiarly charming 
infantile babble (which Ploss calls " das Lallen ") begins, 
which, though only an "awkward twittering," yet con- 
tains in rudimentary form nearly all the sounds which 
afterwards, by combination, yield the potent instrument of 
speech, A. wonderful variety of sounds, some of which 
afterwards give the child difficulty when he tries to produce 
them, are now produced automatically, by a purely impul- 
sive exercise of the vocal muscles ; in the same way as the 
child at this age performs automatically many eye-move- 
ments, which afterwards become difficult, or even impossible. 
M. Taine thinks that " all shades of emotion, wonder, joy, 
wilfulness and sadness " are at this time expressed by dif- 
ferences of tone, equalling or even surpassing the adult. 



LANGUAGE 129 

The child's first act is to cry. This cry has been vari- 
ously interpreted. Semmig calls it " the triumphant song 
of everlasting life," and describes it as " heavenly music " 
— himmlische Musik; Kant said it was a cry of wrath, and 
others have spoken of it as a sorrowful wail on entering 
this world of sin ; or as the foreboding of the pains and 
sorrows of life. It seems more scientific, though less 
poetic, to accept the explanation of the " unembarrassed 
naturalist," who sees in it nothing more nor less than the 
expression of the painfulness of the first breathing — the 
rush of cold air upon the lungs. 

A more important point is the relation of this first vocal 
utterance to the speech that is to follow. The cry at first 
is merely an automatic or reflex "squall," without expres- 
sive modulation or distinctive timbre ; the same cry serves 
to express all sorts of feelings. But very soon it becomes 
differentiated and assumes various shadings to express 
various mental states. This differentiation begins at differ- 
ent times in different children. A girl only fifteen days 
old expressed her desire to be fed by a particular sort of 
cry. In another case, the cry had ceased to be a mere 
squall by the end of the first month. In another, the feel- 
ings of hunger, cold, pain, joy and desire were expressed by 
different sounds before the end of the fifth week. Others 
report the transition from the " cry " to the " voice," involv- 
ing cooperation of the mouth and tongue, at different times, 
but all within the first three months. 

These cries are variously described. According to one, 
" the cry of pain is generally longer continued than the cry 
of fear." Another speaks of the cry of fear as "short 
and explosive," while hunger is expressed by a long-drawn- 
out wail. Another child at two months expressed pleasure 
and pain by different forms of the vowel a. Sigismund's 
boy, in his sixth month, expressed pleasure by a peculiar 
crowing shout, accompanied by kicking and prancing. 



130 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

The next step is taken when these cries and babblings 
assume an articulate character. The alphabetic sounds 
begin to be heard. Of these, the vowels usually precede 
the consonants ; and of the vowels, a with its various shad- 
ings is generally the first to appear.^ In one case the fol- 
lowing series was developed: d-OrXi. In another, the 
sound of a-a, as an expression of joy, was heard in the 
tenth week. According to Lobische, the vowels developed 
in this order : a-e-o-u-i. One child began with a, and then 
proceeded to ai-d-au-d, while the pure sound of o was 
late in appearing. In another case all the vowels were 
heard in the first five months, d being the most frequently 
employed; and in another, the primitive a (of which the 
child's first cries largely consisted) became differentiated 
into the various vowel-sounds during the first month. 
Preyer reports the use of the vowel-sounds in the following 
order: ud-ao-ai-uao-d-o-a^o-u-e-dri-u; and Sigismund in the 
following : a-d-u-ei-o-i-o-il-dti-mL 

Long before the sixth month, the primitive vowels are 
combined with one another (as we see) and with consonants, 
to produce the first syllabic utterances. These first sylla- 

1 It is necessary at this point to adopt a system of diacritical marks, 
as in all that follows the child's pronunciation is of great importance. 
We shall, therefore, adopt the following system, and shall take the liberty 
of changing, wherever necessary, the spelling of the recorded observations, 
for the sake of miiformity : 

a as in caZm. c or ee as in ea<,/ee<, etc. oo as in food, 

a as in fat. i as in pit. 6Q as in foot. 

aasin/a<e. i as in ice. w as in ^^p. 

d as in aio^. oasinpo^ m as in use. 

a (German a umlaut), o as in old. u (German u umlaut), 

e as in pet. o (German o umlaut). 

Some changes will also be made in the use of consonants. For example, 
such words as corner, chorus, coffee, etc., will be spelled with a k; words 
like cigar, centre, cellar, etc., with an s ; and in such words as write, the 
silent w will be omitted. Other changes will be indicated as they are 



LANGUAGE 131 

bles are, for the most part, mechanical. In a great many 
of the cases under consideration, the first consonants to 
make their appearance are the labials, h-p-m, and these are 
almost always initial at first, and not final. The easy con- 
sonant m, combined in this way with the easy vowel a, 
yields the familiar combination ma, which, by spontaneous 
reduplication, becomes mama. In a similar manner, papa^ 
baba (afterwards baby) and the like are constructed. The 
labials are not always, however, the first consonantal sounds 
uttered. Sometimes the gutturals (y or k) precede them; 
and the two consonants which are usually the last to appear 
(viz., r and I) are used by some children quite early. In 
the case of the boy A., the first sounds were guttural, gg, 
though the earliest combination was mam-mam, used in cry- 
ing. At five months " he dropped the throat-sounds almost 
entirely, and began the shrill enunciation of vowels " ; and 
at six months he lowered his voice and began to use lip- 
sounds, simultaneously with the cutting of his first teeth. 
In another case, m appeared as the first consonant in the 
second month and was followed by b-cl-n-r, occasionally g and 
h, and very rarely A;; the first syllables were pa-ma-ta-na. 
Lobische observed the consonants in this order : 'm-(w)-b-p-d-t- 
l-n-s-r-, Sigismundinthis: b-m-n-d-s-g-w-f-ch-Jc-l-r-sch; and Dr. 
Brown in this : b-p-f-r-m-g-k-h-t-d-l-n. In some cases nearly 
all syllables have been correctly pronounced during the first 
half-year ; while in others progress is much slower, very few 
syllables being certainly mastered before the ninth month. 

We may sometimes observe here also the beginnings of 
vocal imitation. The boy A. was observed to " watch atten- 
tively the lip-movements of his attendants"; and other 
observers have remarked, from about the fourth month, "a 
curious mimicry of conversation, imitating especially the 
cadences, so that persons in the adjoining room would think 
conversation was going on." The same thing was ob- 
served in A. a little later. 



132 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Second Six Months. — Most children make a very 
marked advance during this period in the imitation of 
sounds, in the intentional use of sounds with a meaning, 
and in the comprehension of the meanings of words and 
gestures. The actual vocabulary of most children at this 
age is, however, exceedingly small. Many children, a year 
old, cannot speak a single word, while the average vocabu- 
lary does not probably exceed half a dozen words. 

A new advance accompanies the rise of active hearing, 
and the increasing power of attention in the third three 
months. The child begins to keep a sort of time to music, 
in which he shows pleasure, and this strong excitement 
stimulates the production of new sounds. He delights in 
being carried about with a galloping rhythmic motion, and 
will smack his lips and make other sounds in imitation of 
chirping to a horse. He pats his hands together in imi- 
tation of the accompanying motions in a nursery rhyme, 
and sometimes makes an attempt to say the words also. 
He shows a fondness for ringing the changes on certain 
syllables which he has learned, varying and reduplicating: 
e.g., mama, baba, gaga, nana, etc., and other less intelligible 
combinations. 

He understands many words which he cannot pronounce, 
and he pronounces some in a mechanical way without 
understanding. He knows each member of the household 
by name, and will reach a biscuit to the person named 
to him. He knows the principal parts of his own body, 
and will point to them when asked. The words papa 
and mama, whose surprising universality may be partly ac- 
counted for by the physiological law of ease (the sound 
most easily produced and, therefore, earliest used, being 
naturally associated with those persons whose presence 
arouses the earliest and most vivid emotions and ideas), are 
by many children at this time intelligently used, though 
some are later in this. 



LANGUAGE 133 

Imitation usually makes rapid strides in this period. 
In one case gestures were imitated at eight months, and 
words at nine. If some one is being called, the child also 
calls loudly. In another case, towards the end of the child's 
first year, he began to imitate the sounds made by animals 
and inanimate objects. Sigismund observed the instinct 
of imitation showing itself in the third quarter of the first 
year ; the reduplication of syllables composed of a labial 
or dental consonant and the vowel a; and the more fre- 
quent occurrence of syllables in which the vowel is initial. 
Champneys' child distinctly imitated the intonation of the 
voice when a word or sentence was repeated to him several 
times. This has been observed also in other cases. 

Children who are able to use a few words at this age 
show by their use of them how inadequately defined is 
their meaning. A little girl, who had learned to say d gd 
(all gone) and gcigd (gegangen), applied the latter term 
to herself when falling down. Humphreys says the child 
he observed was able, at this time, to name many things 
correctly, and to pronounce all initial consonants distinctly, 
except th, t, d, v, and I. Some final consonants were indis- 
tinct. Another child, at eleven months, knew what guten 
tag meant, and responded with tata; he also answered adieu 
with adaa. In this case, the first association of a sound 
with a concept was ee, which meant wet. A boy of ten 
months used intelligently the words mama, Aggie {Maggie, 
this afterwards became Waggie) and addie {auntie). At 
eleven months, Waggie was shortened to Wag, and addie 
to att. Another at seven months used to wave his hand 
and say tata at parting ; and one day he did this when a 
closet door Avas opened and shut again. Taine's little 
girl at twelve months, on learning the word hebe, as con- 
nected with the picture of the infant Jesus, afterwards 
extended it, curiously enough, not to all babies, but to all 



134 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

pictures. Occasionally a word is invented, such as the word 
mum, reported by Mr. Darwin, which the child used with 
an interrogatory sound when asking for food, but also " as a 
substantive of wide signification." I observed a similar 
general use of da, in the case of F. In another case, the 
word ho was used to signify anything that pleased the child. 
The words mama, papa and babe, which had been used for 
some time mechanically, were dropped about the middle of 
this period, to be resumed five months later, " when they 
were applied to their proper objects." Sully observed 
in the beginning of this period (which he calls the la la 
period) the rise of spontaneous articulation. Combinations 
of syllables were suddenly hit upon, and repeated without 
any meaning, except as indications of baby feeling. Long 
a indicated surprise, and " a kind of o, formed by sucking 
in the breath, indicated pleasure at some new object." In 
one case, a little sentence was uttered by a child at the close 

of this period. He said : " Papa mama,^' which meant: 

" Papa, take me to mama." 

The wide differences among children make it unsafe to 
venture any generalizations, except one, viz., this second 
half-year seems to be par excellence the period of the rise 
of imitation. Some children, however, are as far advanced 
at the beginning of this period as others are at its end. 
Perhaps it ought also to be remarked that the child who 
shows a great precocity in imitation, or in learning to 
speak, will not necessarily, on that account, turn out a 
more intelligent child. Imitation does not require a very 
high degree of mental acuteness, and the child who has 
been slow in this may in the end surpass his more preco- 
cious companion. 

Third Six Months. — While the child is learning to 
walk, there is very often a standstill, or even a retrograde 



LANGUAGE 135 

movement, in the matter of speech. After walking is mas- 
tered, the acquisition of language goes forward again with 
greater facility than ever. 

During this third period, marked progress is usually 
made in the understanding of words, and in their intelli- 
gent application, though the vocabulary is still very limited, 
and the pronunciation imperfect. Difficult sounds are 
omitted, or replaced by easier ones. Sometimes the change 
in one consonant has an influence on another which pre- 
cedes or follows it. In longer words and combinations, 
only the prominent part — the accented syllable, or the 
final sound — is reproduced. A final ie is often added to 
words. The child says dinnie for dinner, ninnie for dririk, 
and beddy for bread. Other imperfect pronunciations are : 
apy tee (apple tree), piccy book {picture book), gamy or 
nannie {grandma), pee {please), pepe {pencil), mo-a {more), 
Jio ov hd {horse), Balbert {Gilbert), Tot {Topf),Ka-ka {Car- 
rie), and Kakie {Katy). 

Most children at this age understand a great deal of 
what is said to them. Such phrases as "bring the ball"; 
" come on papa's knee " ; " go down " ; " come here " ; " give 
me a kiss," are perfectly understood and obeyed. Parts of 
the child's body, as eyes, nose, ear, other ear, hand, etc., other 
person's eyes, ears, etc., are pointed to when named. Arti- 
cles are fetched, carried and put where one commands. 

Some children begin, towards the end of this period, to 
express themselves in short sentences, which are usually 
elliptical, or, as Romanes says, " sentence-words," only the 
most prominent word or words in the sentence being pro- 
nounced. E.g., ta {thank you), nee {take me on your knee) ; 
det off; det up ; where cows George 9 {where are Uncle George's 
cows?); mo-a, mama {give me more, mama); dao {take 
me down from my chair). Many combinations of words 
are made, which fall short of the dignity of sentences. 



136 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

E.g., mama dess, ding-a-lmg, etc. A boy of eighteen months 
"knows the last words of many Mother Goose melodies, 
as vioon 0; place 0; bare, bare, bare; putting them in at 
the right time, enthusiastically." 

Some words are invented by the child. E.g., the word 
tern, which Taine's little girl spontaneously used as a sort 
of general demonstrative, " a sympathetic articulation, that 
she herself has found in harmony with all fixed and distinct 
intention, and which consequently is associated with her 
principal fixed and distinct intentions, which at present are 
desires to take, to have, to make others take, to look, to 
make others look." The same child invented the word ham 
to signify " something to eat," just as Darwin's boy used 
mum for the same purpose. 

The love of reduplication shows itself very distinctly now, 
as indeed it has almost from the beginning; no doubt for 
the physiological reason that it is easier for the vocal organs 
to execute a movement over again, to which they are ad- 
justed, and which they have performed once, than to adjust 
themselves to a new movement. Very probably the love of 
repetition and "jingle" which is so noticeable in children 
(and which, as Sigismund says, lies at the foundation of 
rhyme), also enters as a factor here. Numerous examples 
of the onomatopoetic naming of animals and things may 
also be observed at this time, though many of these are, no 
doubt, imitated from grown-up people. One or both of 
these tendencies may be observed in such expressions as 
the following: dada, mama, papa, wawa (water), wah wah 
or otia oua or bow woiv (dog), es es (yes), ni nl (nice), ko Jco 
(chicken), puff (wind), quack quack (duck), golloh or lidulu 
(all rolling objects), bopoo (bottle), too too (cars), tuppa tuppa 
tee (potato), etc. The child imitates (often spontaneously) 
the sounds made by the dog, cat, sheep, ticking of clock, 
etc., while many sounds are reduplicated. The opposite 



LANGUAGE 137 

process, a spontaneous curtailing of certain words, may be 
sometimes noticed. In one case a boy of fifteen months 
contracted papa, mama and addie into pa, ma and att respec- 
tively, having never heard any of these latter words. 

Imitation is now very strong. The child attempts to re- 
peat everything he hears ; but some sounds give him diffi- 
culty, and the shifts to which he resorts in such cases are of 
very great interest. The boy E. used to say nayia for thank 
you, and dit taut for get caught (in play) ; but the phrase 
excuse me was too much for him ; he therefore used oho in 
its place, with a rising inflection on the second syllable. 
Singing is often imitated better than speech. A boy of 
fourteen months "gave back a little song, in the right 
key " ; and another, in the sixteenth month, knew some 
simple little hymns. 

But perhaps the most interesting thing of all at this time 
is the gradual " clearing " of the childish concepts, as indi- 
cated by the steady circumscription of the application of 
names. Even yet, however, names are applied much too 
widely ; much more experience is necessary before they ac- 
quire, in the young mind, a clear and definite connotation. 
(Even in mature life, most of our concepts are still very 
hazy and ill-defined; and it might be allowable to describe 
the whole process of intellectual education as a process of 
clarification of the concept.) It is interesting, also, to note 
how the principle of association enters as a factor in the 
determination of the application of the name. When a 
child calls the moon a lamp, or applies his word hd (ball) to 
oranges, bubbles and other round objects ; calls everything 
boiv ivow which bears any sort of resemblance to a dog (in- 
cluding the bronze dogs on the staircase, and the goat in the 
yard) ; applies his words papa and mama to all men and all 
women respectively ; makes his word cutie do duty, not only 
for knife, but also for scissors, shears, sickle, etc. ; says 



138 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

bd (bath) on seeing a crust dipped in tea; applies ati 
(assis) to chair, footstool, bench, sitting down, sit down, etc. ; 
peudu (perdu) or atta (gone or lost) to all sorts of dis- 
appearances ; — it is evident that one great striking resem- 
blance has overshadowed all differences in the objects. 
Another child, who had learned the word ot as a name for 
objects that were too warm, extended it to include, also, 
objects that were too cold (association by contrast). Later, 
on looking at a picture, he pointed to the representation of 
clouds and said ot. The clouds reminded him, no doubt, of 
the steam from the tea-kettle. This aptitude for seizing 
analogies, which Taine believes to be the source of gen- 
eral ideas and of language, has numerous illustrations, not 
only in the language of the child learning to speak, but also 
in the use of words by uncivilized or semi-civilized peoples.^ 

Fourth Six Months. — During the latter half of the 
second year linguistic progress is usually so rapid as to 
render a detailed account impossible. We can only call 
attention to some of the most striking features. 

" By the end of the second year," says Schultze, " the 
normal child can make himself understood in a short sen- 
tence." His own child was able, at nineteen months, to use 
sentences containing subject, predicate and object. In an- 
other case, quite a complicated sentence (but very elliptical, 
only the nouns being uttered), was heard in the twentieth 
month. In the case of A., a genuine sorrow was the occa- 
sion of his first sentence. His father, of whom he was very 
fond, had been playing with him for some time, and finally, 
being called away, put him down and went out, closing the 
door behind him. The child gazed for a moment at the 
closed door, and then, throwing himself on the floor, cried 
out, / want my papa. Before this he used to express himself 
1 See Romanes' "Meutal Evolution in Man," Chap. VIH. 



LANGUAGE 139 

chiefly in elliptical sentences and sentence-words. When 
slightly over two years of age, he used to weave little stories 
of his own ; e.g., mama fd wife downy toppy houf. One day, 
while the dinner was waiting for his father, who was ex- 
pected home on the train, the child said : Toot-toot corny 
wite up tair, inny cloJi, uppy tdpool; toot-toot make big noise. 
Another of his sentences was: Take a badie bldy to; badie 
tiehd, feepy. The boy C. uttered his first sentence in the 
twenty-first month: Fees mama. Two months earlier he 
had used sentence-words ; e.g., papa cacTcer (papa has fire- 
crackers). In the twenty-fourth month he told quite an ex- 
tensive story, in which the verbs were not expressed. Even 
compound sentences, and sentences containing subordinate 
clauses, are often mastered before the close of this period. 
Sometimes verbal inflections appear ; e.g., naughty baby klide 
(cried). Another day the same child said corned for came, 
thus unconsciously rebuking the inconsistent English lan- 
guage. Interrogative sentences appeared in another case ; 
e.g., whereas pussy f and negation was expressed by an af- 
firmative sentence, with an emphatic no tacked on at the 
end, exactly as the deaf-mutes do. Many of these primitive 
sentences are in the imperative mood, and many are still 
" sentence-words." Most children talk a great deal, and 
gesticulate profusely, at this time. Their expressions are 
concrete, and abstract words are avoided as far as possible. 
A little boy, on seeing the picture of a half-grown lad, spoke 
of it as a little baby man. Anything that has rhyme or 
rhythm is most easily picked up. A little nephew of my 
own was able, at this age, to sing a large number of little 
songs and hymns, giving the melody quite correctly. An- 
other boy, at twenty-one months, on hearing the milkman's 
bell, used to say : Mik man mik cow, crump horn, toss dog, 
kiss maid all florn; or peeping through the fence at the 
cows, would sing : Moo cow, moo cow, how-de-do cow. 



140 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

The child's progress is marked here by his gradual mas- 
tery of the personal and possessive pronouns. These are 
peculiarly difficult for the average child, and, according to 
Egger, are not usually attained until near the close of the 
second year ; according to others, much later still (thirtieth 
month, according to Lindner). Previous to mastering the 
/, the child calls himself by his proper name, or by the 
name haby, as he may have been taught. When I first ap- 
pears, it is frequently employed, — quite consistently from 
the child's point of view, — not in the first person, but in 
the second ; i.e., he calls others I and himself you. One 
child used the vs^ord / correctly as early as the nineteenth 
month, but often exchanged it for her proper name. An- 
other, in the twentieth month, still called himself by his 
proper name, but, a month later, said me for the first time. 
Another spoke of me as a personality in her twenty-second 
month. Another, at two years, often used the word my, 
meaning your ; e.g.. Let me get up on my lap. Another, at 
the same age, still, speaks of himself as baby in ordinary 
converse, but in great desire says, / want it, and in great 
fear says, I afraid. 

In some cases, almost all the sounds are mastered by the 
end of the second year, but from the observations at hand, 
this may be considered the exception. Most children still 
have difficulty with certain sounds. Some of these diffi- 
culties are seen in the following : apoo {ap^ile), zhatis (there 
it is), es (yes), yleg (egg; note difficulty with initial vowel), 
oJcen (open), task (mustache), sh'ad (thread), dam (gum), t'dl 
(shawl), iqipervater (elevator), nobella (iimbrella), bannicars 
(banisters), aw yi (all right), setto (cellar), pato (potato), it da 
(sit there). One observer reports a special difficulty with s, 
z, d, g, Jc, I, n, r and t. Another says that at nineteen 
months, the sounds s, sh, ch and j were generally indistinct ; 
while 10, V and / were formed, but not well developed. On 



LANGUAGE 141 

the other hand nasal g appeared, o was mastered, I, p and 
t as Jinal consonants began to be used, and k became a 
favorite sound, used in many words. Sibilants were more 
at command when final than when initial, while short a 
was just beginning to be formed. In the twenty-second 
month the sounds of ch, j and th were still imperfect, the 
hard sound of th being replaced by s and the soft sound 
by z. A month later, r was still generally replaced by I; 
when s came before another consonant, one or the other 
was dropped, and k was sometimes confused with p or t. 
In another case, the double consonant sp made its first ap- 
pearance at the end of the second year. 

There are still many examples of the inadequate limi- 
tation of the concept. In one case the word poor, which 
was learned as an expression of pity, was applied on occasion 
of any sort of loss or damage whatsoever, and was even 
used in speaking of a crooked pin. Dam (gum), with which 
toys were mended, became a universal remedy for all things 
broken or disabled; and afterwards, when the child ac- 
quired the word sh^ad (thread), broken things were divided 
into two classes, viz., those that were to be mended with 
dam, and those that were to be mended with sh'ad. Behwys, 
in another case, was at first the name for all small fruits, 
but afterwards became restricted, yielding a portion of its 
territory to gape (grape). Another boy extended his word 
gee-gee (horse) to a drawing of an ostrich, and a bronze 
figure of a stork ; and his word apioo (apple) to a patch of 
reddish brown color on the mantelpiece. The boy C. applied 
the word hoke (Jbroke) to a torn pocket-handkerchief ; and R. 
extended his word do (door) to everything that stopped up 
an opening or prevented an exit, including the cork of a bot- 
tle, and the little table that fastened him in his high chair. 

Healthy children of two years of age will usually attempt 
all sorts of sounds in imitation of others, and will practice 



142 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

on new and difficult combinations with great perseverance, 
sometimes carrying the word through several stages of 
transition, until it finally assumes the perfect form. The 
boy A. first heard the word pussy when seventeen months 
old; he at once undertook to say it, but called it at first 
pooheh, then poqfie, then poopoohie, then poofee, until finally, 
after much persevering practice, he was able to say pussy, 
when he seemed to be satisfied, and discontinued its use, 
except when pussy was in sight. Schultze gives, among 
others, the following examples : the German word loasser 
passed through these stages, — ivaioaff — fafaff — waffwaff 
— wasse — wasser ; the word grosmama was first omama, 
and then dbsmama, before assuming its final form. The 
strength of the reduplicating tendency, and the influence of 
the initial consonant on the remainder of the word, is seen 
in the following imitations: wawa {Mary), dudu (Julia), 
ill ih (little), ha ha (hlanket), fafa (faster), mama (master), 
papa (pasture), nana (naughty)} 

1 1 cannot forbear quoting the following from Sigismund in this con- 
nection. A child of twenty-one months attempted to repeat, line by line, 
a piece of poetry after another person. The first line in each pair repre- 
sents the pronunciation of the adult, the second the imitation of the child ; 

Guter Mond, du gehst so stille, 
Tute Bohnd, du tehz so tinne. 

Durch die Abendwolken hin, 
Duch die Aten-honten in. 

Gehst so traurig, und ich fiihle, 
Tehz so tautech, und ich biine. 

Dass ich ohne Ruhe bin, 
Dass ich one Ule bin. 

Guter Mond, du darfst es wissen, 
Tute Bohnd, du atz es bitten. 

Weil du so verschwiegen bist, 
Bein do so bieten bitz. 



LANGUAGE 143 

Vocabularies. — I have taken the trouble to collect, for 
purposes of comparison, a number of vocabularies of children, 
■which have been recorded by careful and competent observ- 
ers, with as much completeness and accuracy as possible. 
I will now give these in summarized form, so as to show 
the relative frequency of the various sounds as initial, and 
also the relative frequency of the various parts of speech. 
It is of course in many cases a very difficult thing to deter- 
mine with certainty what idea lies back of a given utterance ; 
and the younger the child, the greater the difficulty. I am 
inclined to think that the utterances of a child who is just 
beginning to speak are for the most part spontaneous excla- 
mations, involving no real distinction of those ideas that 
underlie the parts of speech. But I believe that in the case 
of the following tables, the children had reached such an 
age that the results from this point of view are of great value. 
In order the more accurately to show the sounds actually 
made by the child, I have been obliged to use an alphabet 
differing somewhat from the ordinary English alphabet. 
The following changes are made : c is dropped out alto- 
gether, such words as corner, candy, etc., being classed under 
yfc; words like centre, cigar, etc., under s; and words like 
chain, cheese, chair, etc., forming a new series under ch. 
Words like George, gentleman, etc., are classed under j 
instead of g ; words like Philip under /; words like knife, 
knee, etc., under w; and words like wrap, write, etc., under 
r. Other new letters besides ch are sh and th. In short, 
it is sought to classify the child's words according to his 
pronunciation, and not according to the English alphabet. 
If he says tatie for potato, the word is classed under t. I 

Warum meine Thranen fliessen, 
Amum meine Tanen bieten. 

Und mein Herz so traurig ist, 
Und mein Aetz so atich iz. 



144 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

am convinced that this is the only way to obtain reliable 
and valuable results. 

I. A child of nine months is reported as speaking "nine 
words plainly." The words are not given. 

II. A boy at twelve months has " four words of his own." 

III. A child of twelve months uses ten words with mean- 
ing. Six of these are nouns, two adjectives and two verbs. 
The initial sounds are m (three times), p (four times), n, a 
and k (each once). 

IV. A child of one year used eight words, seven of which 
were nouns, and one an adverb. The initial sounds are h 
(four times), m, p, d and u (one each). 

V. The boy R. had at command about twenty words, 
thirteen of which were nouns, and four or five inter jectional 
words. For initial sound b was preferred, then p and t. 

VI. Another child is reported, at fifteen months, as hav- 
ing " syllables, but no words." 

VII. A girl of seventeen months is reported as using 
thirty-five words, twenty-two of which are nouns, four 
verbs, two adjectives, four adverbs and three interjections. 
The initial sounds are d (eight times), s (four), m, b 
and ch (three each), 2>, t, h a and y (two each), i, j, n, o 
(one each). 

VIII. A girl of twenty-two months uses twenty-eight 
words, distributed as follows : nouns sixteen, verbs three, 
adjectives three, adverbs and interjections five. The initial 
sounds are b (six times), d (five), m (four), p (three), g, h 
and k (two each), e, i, n and o (one each). 

IX. A girl at two years employs thirty-six words, dis- 
tributed as follows: nouns sixteen, adjectives four, pro- 
nouns three, verbs seven, adverbs three, interjections three. 
Initial sounds are p (five times), m, b and w (each four 
times), g, k and h (each three times), d, i, n and r (each 
twice), a and o (each once). 



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g 




<j!mQfiWfeOWMHs!3iH:ig;2;OpHO'tfaQMHHt2>^si 




Oi COSTCO corH eq oo^cow rnco^. r^ eoco|S| 


•fja^ni COrH^^ rHrHrH rH 


s 


•Cuoo 1 




•dajj 1 




•APVI «- - -- - - 


CO 


■q-i8Al ^ ^ ^ N ^^ ,H ,H 


Oi 


•UOJJ 1 ^ 


'^ 


•fpVl - ^ ^ ^ 


^ 


1 O CO rH 1-1 rH CO CO CO (M 05 CON 


s 




-sjpqoPW&HOtUwHsWHjSl^iOPLHO'tfccSHHPr'^N 


^ 

^ 


|»0i010©rH«5t-OS^ OCOOt-OICa 05» C^(M(MC-lt- 


g 


•Cia^ni 1 




•Cnoo 1 




•d9aj 1 ^ 


N 


•APV 1 '^ '-' '^ '-' -^ 


^ 


•qa9A| .H rnrH ^ rH ^* rH 


s 


•uoij 1 'H 


<N 


•Cpvl '" ^ ^ ^ 


CO 


•sunoK 


•* (N lO t- rH CO CO OS IM t- CO 05 t- rH »0 ^ rH Ijq « lO |«| 




<{MaQHfeOWhHH5fc*ljg^OPH<:?P3aD^HHt3;>^Sl 


1 


IB^ox 


^JCrHOO ThOOOrH CO Cq b- ^ O N C5 O Oi (N rH CO lO 1^1 


•[jaiUlI rH rH <N « 


CO 


•Caoo 1 




•daaa 1 


^ 


•Apvl ^ ^ ^'- 


•* 


•qj9A 1 '-"^ '-'N«^»a CONrHrHlO 03rH rH 


^ 


•noaj 1 




■fPVl'^'^ S^'-'Wl rHrHrHrH rHrH rHCO 


s 


•SanON |IMOt-ItH rn-^COrn 00 WNNW CqCO b-IM •<*rH 


g 




<JMoQWfeOWpHHsWhjS;z;OPka«a;MHHP>^N3 


1 



145 ' 



•TB50X 


lOg'*g«CR050i«Oe<500t-005MOOC005NW|3 tH 


00 »H 


i 


■[j8iUI 1 1 


•Caoo 1 1 


•d9JJ 1 


TH (N 




CO 


•Apv 1 


rH rt rt rt 


'-' 


« 


•qaaA 1 •« 


CO (N tH COrH CO rHlO CO 


^ 


§5 


•nojj 1 


TH ^ 


-" 


CO 


•fPV I -^ 


!M tH tH (MiH rH rl iH iM 


C, 


J3 


•snno^ 1 -^^-^a^^^S^^w^s^t-o^^^t-weooo 


. 


1 




<-pQ6fiWfc<OWi-.'-sWi^S;2iOfeC?f«a)MHHH3>^N 


1 


•moxiS^^S^SSS'^*'^ S2*?5 ^^=^S '^' 


-g- 


1 


•fiaini 1 '-' 


tHiH 




CO 


•Cnoo 1 1 


•dajj 1 


rtiH <M rH 




w 


•APV 1 '^ 


NrH (M (MrH rH 


'-' 


;3 


•qj9A 1 ^ 


COrH<»CqrH (N <M tH rH CO rH t- lO 


•* 


^ 


•uoia 1 


iM rH 




CO 


•cpvl-- 


(M(M rHiMrH (M rH ■* CO CO CO 


<MrH 


g 


•snnoK|''§5=^3^'^''S^*'g^ JS^^S ^3=^S 


HCO 


^ 




<iJw6fiWfeOWM'-5tiJH:ig;z;OfcC?P3a2SHH&K»^N 


3 


|r-IC^WTH(NIMM'*TH(MCOT*H©^ ^C^ tK CO 


Ti 


1 


•[jg^oil ^' 


H rH rH ,HrH ,H 


(N 


<N 


•[noo 1 


•dajj 


•APV 


(M tH 


^ 


^ 


•qj8A ■* 


rH rH « rH t- (N 


Vi 


(M 


•uoij 


'-' 






•fpV 1 ^ 


tH rH rH rH 


'-' 


to 


•sunoNj |-^'^'^t-'^'?'«"-"-"^^'**«> c^'-' t- io 


o 


8 




<«)pq5QHP^OWhHHsMjS;2;OPHap3aD^HH& 


>^N 


1 


•mox 1 ^ogo^Ho^co^occ^-g^^^s^-S'^'^^^^^^ 




1 


•[jajiq 1 '^ 


tH rH 




CO 


•Cnoo 1 




•dajj 1 


rH rH « 




■* 


•APV 1 '^ 


rH rHrH rH 


rHrH 


■^ 


•qjaAl'^'*' 


lMrH(NtOCOrH lO rH CO •* lO rH -* rH 




s 


•uoij 1 


rH CO tH 


C^ 


t- 


•cpvl^-^ 


rH rHrHTH cO rH rH rH rH rH C^ rH 


'-' 


^ 


.ButioK 1 ^S'^^"S^=^'^'^g;^'='*=^S'"'«^"s^'" 


>o 


J 



Hiicq6QWfeOWi-i'-sMHjS;z5O^ap5c0MHHH3>^N 
146 



'moj. 


S^' 


Hg.^ Mgoe^^oc^jgwo wgooo^* 


■^-^ 


^ 


•Ua%ni 1 


'-I 


'-' 


<N 


•CaoQ <^ 


'-' 




CO 


•d9jj <^^'^ 


rH rHOJ rt rt rt 


'^ 


s 


•APV ^-^ 


eOrH WrHrH rH M rM rH (N rH 


-HIM 


CO 


•qj8A ^"^ 


0<N ,H t- r-1 rH rH lO Cq ,H ^ CO IN ^ « O 


00 


s 


•nojj 1 


ION CO Cq rH rH 


(NO^ 


s 


•[pV ^« 


«0 THr-(iH (NCOrH r-(0> >0 r-t 


^ 


5J 


•sanoK ^^ 


HCOrH (NOrHrHrt«JO«<M© C^ ^ 'K ^ rH 


« 


?3 




<iJfq5QWfeOEljHH'-sMH:i^;z;O0HC^P5cBMHHP 


>^S1 


rt 

s 


•lB?ox|^^ 


-^^?5ss*^^s^a*^^g§*?;s^ 


... 


i 


•Ciaiui 1 


COrH rH rH 


^ 


t- 


•Cnoo 1 ^ 






'-' 


•d9Jj 1 


rH r-C rH rH rH 


'-' 


CO 


•APVI^^ 


rH rH C^N <M (NrHrH 


C^iM 


2 


•qj8A| ^«» 


t- rH ;0 ■5*< t- rH 00 tO lO rH rH ^ 00 00 rH T^ N 


lO 


g 


•nojd 1 


'*N CO rH 


rH(N 


2 


•[pV 1 «=^ 


^rHrHrHIH IM rH rH rH rH (Ml© rH C< 


'-I 


§^ 


•8ano>i|"*'e5 


f-cg>ocob.coeq'*t-ooigo5iN©rHOiot-t-'*(M 


Mt- 


i 




^eqoQWfeOMHHH,UlH:iS;z;Oft.C?P3aD5HH&>^s; 




•mox| SS 


2^;5r,25?°^sgg55?5SS'^S5^;2;5;^'«*^^ 


g 


•Caaiui 1 


rHrH ,H rH 




. 


•CnoQ 1 -^ 


" 




o, 


•d8Jj|^-^ 


<M (M « rH 


'-' 


?5 


•APV 1 ^ 


.H rH IM rH C^ ,*< (M rH rH rHrH 


rHrHCq 


•q^OAl " 


FHOrH-*(N?0 rHrHt-r*((M ^ ^ o ■* rH (M (M 


3 


1 


•nojj 1 


(MiM rH 


CfllM 


0-. 


• CpV 1=0 00 




CD 


?2 


•snnoj^ 1 '^S 


rH rH 01 to O CI lO 03 ^ 00 b- tH Tt< Tb N CO O CO CO rH 


t-05^ 


1 




^pqofiWfeOMHH-sMjS^^OpHOWajMHH&^^tS] 


H 


•mox|S3 


00rHO5t-(MlO lOt-rHOCOlOrH O 05 rH 


<MrH 


s 


•Caa^ni | 


'-' 




-^ 


•tnoo 1 - 


--I 


•daij 1 


'"' 




'-I 


•APV « 


rH CI CO rH 




© 


•qjaA '^ 


rHrHCIC^ Th<MrH(NC^ rH« 


»o 


^ 


•UOJJ 1 


rH ,H 




- 


•CpV 1 ^ 


COl-HffJN rH CO rH 


'-' 




•srrao^ 1 "^S 


t- TKtfSOOrH rH <* 03 t- rH (M rH TJH tH 


CDrH 


CO 




147 


3 



148 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



Summarizing these vocabularies, we find some interesting 
facts bearing on language-growth, both on the physiological 
and on the psychological side. 

For example, with regard to the relative frequency of the 
various parts of speech, the following table is instructive. 
Of the five thousand four hundred words comprising these 
vocabularies ^ 



60 percent 


are nouns. 


20 ' 


( (( 


" verbs. 


9 ' 


I a 


" adjectives. 


6 ' 


I (( 


" adverbs. 


2 * 


( « 


" pronouns. 


2 * 


i « 


" prepositions. 


1.7 ' 


( ii 


" interjections. 


0.3 ' 


I a 


" conjunctions. 



100.0 

Of the nouns, less than one per cent are abstract. Nearly 
all are names of persons or familiar objects. The majority, 
in the earlier months, seem to be used almost with the 
force of proper nouns, as Schultheiss has also observed. The 
adjectives are mostly those of size, temperature, cleanliness 
and its opposite, and similar familiar notions. This table 
also corroborates Sigismund's observation that the conjunc- 
tion is especially difficult. Another interesting point is the 
comparison of the above table with a similar table, showing 
the relative frequency of the various parts of speech in 
ordinary adult language. Professor Kirkpatrick says that 
of the words in the English language, 



1 In all the calculations that follow, I have taken the liberty to 
include, along with my own vocabularies, those of Professor Holden, 
and Professor Humphreys, which I have re-arranged phonetically for 
the purpose. 



LANGUAGE , 149 

60 per cent are nouns. 
11 « « « verbs. 
22 « « " adjectives. 
5.5 " " « adverbs. 

An important consideration is involved here. If we look 
only at the first of these two tables, and consider the 
child's words by themselves, it will seem that the nouns 
have greatly the advantage over the other parts of speech. 
But such a conclusion obviously cannot be drawn, unless a 
comparison of the child's vocabulary with that of the adult 
justifies us in so doing. In order to show that the child 
learns nouns more easily than verbs, we must be able to 
show that the number of his nouns bears a larger propor- 
tion to the number of nouns he will use as an adult, than 
the number of his verbs bears to the number of verbs he 
will use in adult life. To represent the matter symboli- 
cally, 

Let n = the proportion of nouns in the child's vocabulary. 
And N = " " " « " " man's " 

Let V = " " " verbs « « child's « 

And V = " " " " " " man's " 

Then, if the child learns nouns more easily than verbs, 
the proportion of n to N will be greater than that of v to V. 
But on comparing the two tables, the very opposite is 
found to be the case. 

N 60 
But ^ = § = 1.81 + 

In other words, the child of two years has made nearly 
twice as much progress in learning to use verl)S as in learn- 



150 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

ing to use nouns ; according to my tables of child-language 
and Professor Kirkpatrick's table of adult-language.^ A 
comparison of the adjectives and adverbs in the two tables 
justifies a similar conclusion in favor of the adverb. To 
my mind, this fact — which, so far as I know, has been 
hitherto overlooked by all writers on child-language — pos- 
sesses great value for philology and pedagogy as well as for 
psychology. In the first place it supports the view that 
the acquisition of language in the individual and in the race 
proceeds by similar stages and along similar lines. Max 
Miiller says that the primitive Sanscrit roots of the Indo- 
Germanic languages all represent actions and not objects ; 
that in the race the earliest ideas to assume such strength 
and vividness as to break out beyond the limits of gesture 
and clothe themselves in words are ideas of movement, 
activity. We have found, from examination of the vocabu- 
laries of these twenty-five children, that the ideas which 
are of greatest importance in the infant mind, and so clothe 
themselves most frequently (relatively), in words, are the 
ideas of actions and not objects, of doing instead of being. 
The child learns to use action-words (verbs) more readily 
than object-words (nouns) ; and words descriptive of actions 
(adverbs) more readily than words descriptive of objects 
(adjectives).^ 

1 This statement is still further confirmed by a vocabulary received 
since the publication of the first edition. It is the vocabulary of a five- 
year-old boy in Minneapolis. Of the sixteen hundred words spoken 
by this boy, 19 per cent were verbs and only 53 per cent nouns. 

2 Professor Kirkpatrick, in a private note, suggests that, since his 
tables of adult language are taken from the dictionary, they very likely 
do not represent truly the vocabulary of the average adult. It appears 
that, in " Robinson Crusoe," the proportion of nouns to verbs is not 
60 to 11, but 45 to 24. If " Robinson Crusoe " represents the average 
adult vocabulary, then the conclusions stated in the text will need 



LANGUAGE 151 

In the second place this fact confirms the Froebelian 
principle, on which child-education is coming more and 
more to be based, viz., that education proceeds most naturally 
(and, therefore, most easily and rapidly) along the line of 
motor activity.^ The child should not be so much the 
receptacle of instruction, as the agent of investigation. Let 
him do things, and by doing he will most readily learn. He 
should not he passive, but active in his own education. The 
kindergarten is the modern incarnation of this idea, but 
the idea itself is as old as Aristotle, who says, " We learn 
an art by doing that which we wish to do when we have 
learned it; we become builders by building, and harpers 
by harping. And so by doing just acts we become just, 
and by doing acts of temperance and courage we become 
temperate and courageous." ^ 

Turning now to the consideration of these vocabularies 
from the standpoint of ease or difficulty of pronunciation of 
the various simple sounds, we find some instructive data 
here also. The following table shows the relative frequency 
of the various sounds as initial. In this calculation no heed 
is paid to the English spelling of the words, but only to the 
sounds actually uttered by the child, as already pointed out. 
Of the five thousand four hundred words 



revision. I imagine, however, that in a book so full of action as 
" Robinson Crusoe," the verb element would be unusually strong. 

1 My colleague, Professor van der Smissen, gives me the very interest- 
ing observation, that his little girl, who is just learning to talk, uses 
many sentences in which the verbs are not spoken at all, but acted, all 
the other words in the sentence being spoken. E.g., " Willie whipped 
the pussy," would be expressed by the words, "Willie . . . pussy," 
accompanied by a lively slapping movement of one hand upon the 
other. 

a " Eth. Nic," Book. II. Chap. I. par. 4. 



152 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

11 per cent begin with the sound of 6. 



L0.3 


(( 


a 


il 


9 


(( 


u 


(I 


8 


<( 


(( 


11 


6.1 


K 


(C 


11 


6 


(( 


il 


11 


6 


C( 


a 


11 


6 


U 


il 


li 


6.2 


(i 


a 


il 


4 


(( 


11 


il 


4 


(( 


i( 


il 


3.2 


(I 


11 


11 


3.1 


il 


11 


il 


3 


a 


11 


11 


3 


a 


11 


11 


2 


a 


il 


il 


o 


a 


11 


11 


1.3 


a 


11 


li 


1.2 


u 


il 


11 


1.1 


a 


It 


il 


1 


« 


il 


11 


1 


il 


11 


11 


1 


(I 


il 


11 


0.8 


(I 


il 


ii 


0.5 


u 


il 


11 


0.2 


a 


11 


il 



11 


" Jc. 


11 


" p. 


a 


" h. 


li 


« d. 


il 


" m. 


11 


" t. 


11 


" w. 


11 


"/. 


il 


" 71. 


11 


" g- 


11 


" I 


il 


« a. 


il 


11 ^^ 


il 


" i. 


il 


" 5^1. 


il 


" tL 


il 


" e. 


11 


" 0. 


11 


« ch. 


11 


" j- 


11 


" y. 


11 


" u. 


It 


" v. 



A glance at this table shows how prominent a place the 
explosive consonants occupy as initial sounds in child-lan- 
guage.^ The vowels, on the contrary, though undoubtedly 

1 The vocabulary of the five-year-old Minneapolis boy, spoken of in 
a previous footnote, conforms, in the main, to this order. The five 
sounds he used most frequently as initial are s,p, b, k,/, in the order 
named. 



LANGUAGE 153 

the earliest sounds to be used in most cases, are very in- 
frequent as initial, not only absolutely but relatively. In 
the English dictionaries the vowel a occupies fourth place 
as initial letter ; in my tables it occupies fourteenth place ; 
while the other vowels stand still lower. The reason 
of this is not far to seek. It is simply a case of the 
operation of the law of physiological ease ; as any one may 
verify by pronouncing, in succession, the following syl- 
lables : ap, pa, ab, ha, ah, ha, am, ma, ad, da; and observing 
how much more easily those syllables are pronounced in 
which the consonant leads and the vowel follows. 

Another interesting feature of this table is the high place 
occupied by the guttural A: as initial sound. It stands 
above p and m, and next to s and h. This fact does not 
bear out the theory propounded by several writers on child- 
language, that those sounds are selected by the child foi 
earliest acquirement whose pronunciation involves those 
portions of the vocal apparatus which are most easily seen, 
such as the lips. According to this theory, not only the 
labial p, but the sounds d, m, f, sh, th, etc., ought to stand 
high in the list, because the movements involved in their 
pronunciation are plainly visible; while the guttural k, 
whose movements are absolutely out of sight, should stand 
very low. The contrary is the case ; k stands third in the 
list of initial sounds, while th, whose movements are exceed- 
ingly obvious to sight, occupies the eighteenth place. This 
seems to prove that the child does not learn to utter sounds 
by watching the mouths of those who utter them in his 
presence ; and this opinion is confirmed by the observation 
of Schultze, that the child does not usually look at the 
mouth, but at the eyes of the person speaking to him. On 
the other hand there seems no sufficient ground for the 
statement that the law of least effort is overturned by this 
frequency of the sound of k. Tliis guttural sound is, for 



154 THE PSYCHOLOGY OP CHILDHOOD 

most children, no more difficult than the labials. Often it 
is one of the very earliest sounds employed. I know one 
child with whom it is more frequently used than even b. In 
short, so far as my observations go, I have no hesitation in 
saying that the child's earliest vocal utterances are not 
acquired by imitation at all, either of sound or of move- 
ment, but that they are purely impulsive in their character. 
They are simply the result of the overflow of motor energy, 
which we have seen so prominent in other departments of 
the child's life ; and they proceed at first along the lines of 
least resistance. 

In the following tables I have given the results of a care- 
ful examination of seven hundred instances of mispronun- 
ciation which I have found in the above vocabularies. The 
first table shows the various sounds in the order of the 
number of times they are misused, as well as the ways in 
which they are misused ; the second and third tables enter 
into more detail. 

In the following table the first column gives the sound 
misused; the second shows the number of times it is re- 
placed by another sound ; the third shows how often it is 
dropped, without being replaced; and the fourth shows 
how often it is brought into a word to which it does not 
belong (not as a substitute for some other sound, but as a 
pure interpolation, for no apparent reason). 



LANGUAGE 



155 



Sound 
Misused. 


Re- 
placed. 


Dropped. 


Inter- 
polated. 


Total. 


Sound 
Misused. 


Re- 
placed. 


Dropped. 


Inter- 
polated. 


Total. 


R 


51 


87 


4 


142 


w 


7 


5 


3 


15 


L 


35 


70 




105 


Ch 


13 






13 


s 


25 


34 


1 


60 


Y 


1 


10 


1 


12 


G 


25 


6 




31 


V 


8 


2 




10 


T 


13 


17 


1 


31 


E 


2 


5 




7 


Sh 


26 


4 




30 


H 


2 


5 




7 


K 


20 


8 




28 


J 


5 






5 


Th 


21 


2 




23 


P 


4 


1 




5 


(hard) 










A 




4 




4 


F 


15 


4 


1 


20 


M 


4 






4 


D 


5 


12 


- 2 


19 


Wh 


3 






3 


Th 


14 


4 




18 





3 






3 


(soft) 










B 


3 






3 


Ns 


15 






15 


Z 


1 


1 




2 


N 


7 


7 


1 


15 


Q 


1 






1 



The following table shows the relative frequency of 
replacement of the sounds when initial, medial, and final, 
and also (in the case of the consonants) when occurring 
as one member of a double consonant {e.g., as r in cream). 
It also gives the relative frequency of the substituted 
sounds : 



Sound 
Keplaced. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Replaced 
by 


Tunes. 


Examples. 


R 


21 


21 


9 


4 


W 

1 

y 

e 

V 

t 
m 

I 


29 
6 
3 
8 


kweem (cream). 

tommolla (tomorrow). 

all yIte (all right), 
tumblie (tumbler), 
voom (room), 
tautech (traurig). 

pipe (ripe). 
Kaka (Carrie). 



156 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



Sound 
Replaced. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Replaced 


Times. 


Examples. 


L 


8 


8 


19 


3 


e 
w 
u 
n 
t 
b 
d 

00 


9 

7 
7 
4 

2 
2 
1 


minnie (milk), 
table (table), 
singu (shingle), 
setta (celery), 
bampe (lampe). 
degen (legen). 
apoo (apple). 


Sh 


17 


2 


7 




s 
h 
b 
t 
n 


19 
4 

1 
1 
1 


fis (fish), 
hoogar (sugar). 

tooz (shoes). 


S 


18 


4 


3 


6 


t 
h 
f 
b 
d 


8 
8 
3 
3 
3 


tweet (sweet), 
hlate (slate), 
poofee (pussy). 

dide (side). 


G 


19 


5 


1 


4 


d 
k 
t 
b 
w 

i 


17 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

10 
4 

3 

1 
1 

1 


dass (glass), 
hookoo (sugar), 
toss (gross), 
bavy (gravy), 
detting (getting). 


Th (hard) 


11 


3 


7 


5 


f 

t 

s 

p 

d 
n 
r 

t 

s 

1 


free (three), 
mous (mouth), 
tank (thank), 
harf (hearth), 
nuppin (nothing). 


K 


11 


7 


2 


7 


15 
2 
2 
1 


bastet (basket), 
sun (come), 
untie (uncle), 
tanny (candy). 


F 


7 


4 


4 


2 


P 

8 

k 
t 


6 
6 
2 
2 


nup (enough). 

buttersy (butterfly). 

kork (fork), 
ot (off). 



LANGUAGE 



157 



Sound. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Replaced 


Times. 


Examples. 


Ng 




5 


10 


1 


n 
e 
a 


12 

2 

1 


finner (finger), 
tockies (stockings). 

lockatair (rocking chair). 


Th (soft) 


11 


3 






d 
m 


13 

1 


altogedder (altogether). 

dare (there). 


T 




- 


7 




6 

k 
w 
g 
P 


6 
4 

1 
1 

1 


dockie (doctor), 
bankie (blanket). 
Jackie (jacket), 
coak (coat), 
wawer (water). 


Ch 


9 


2 


2 


1 


s 
t 
sh 


7 
4 
2 


sair (chair), 
tillens (children), 
shick (chick). 


V 


1 


5 


2 




b 

f 
d 


5 
2 

1 


gib (give), 
shufer (shovel). 
Dadie (David). 


N 




1 


6 




m 
I 


4 
2 

1 


buttie (button), 
pirn (pin), 
lemolade (lemonade). 


W 


6 


1 






V 

1 


6 

1 


govay (go away), 
lalla (water). 


D 


1 


4 






n 
t 
k 


2 
2 

1 


towntownt (down town), 
vinner (window), 
kankie (candy). 


J 


4 


1 






d 

g 


4 

1 


demidon (demijohn). 
Gekkie (Jessie). 


P 


3 




1 


1 


b 

t 


2 
2 


bee (please), 
patie (paper). 


M 


2 


2 






k 
n 
w 


2 
1 
1 


hankie (hammer). 
Waggie (Maggie). 


Wh 


3 








f 
h 


2 

1 


feel (wheel), 
haiah (where). 



158 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



Sound 
Replaced. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Replaced 


Times. 


Examples. 









3 




a 

e 


2 


winna (window). 


B 


1 


2 






d 
m 




badie (baby). 
MUly (Billy). 


E 






2 




a 

00 




vera (very), 
cookoo (cookie) 


H 


1 


1 






t 

1 




torns (homs). 
la lo (la haut). 


Y 




1 






e 




bewo (bureau). 


z 




1 






d 




Doderfeen (Josephine). 


Q 




1 






k 




skeeze (squeeze). 



The following table gives similar information with regard 
to the dropping of difficult sounds : 



Sound 
Dropped. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Examples. 


R 


2 


61 


24 


60 


each (reach), 
apicot (apricot), 
dotta (daughter), 
baselet (bracelet) . 


L 


10 


37 


23 


39 


etta be (let me be), 
peeze (please), 
fa (fall), 
buttafy (butterfly). 


S 


27 


4 


3 


30 


poon (spoon). 
Bottie (Boston), 
ga (gas). 
tabewie (strawberry). 



LANGUAGE 



159 



Sound 
Dropped. 


When 
Initial. 


When 
Medial. 


When 
Final. 


When 
Double. 


Examples. 


T 




9 


8 


8 


dissance (distance), 
bonny (bonnet) . 
sottin (stocking). 


D 


1 


5 


6 


12 


sanny (sandy), 
gamma (grandma), 
bines (blinds). 


Y 


6 


4 






ard (yard). 
pa,nna (piano). 


E 


4 


2 


2 


2 


opf (kopf). 
basset (basket), 
boo (book). 


N 


1 




6 


1 


pi (pin), 
burr (burn) . 


G 


6 






1 


atten (garten). 


W 


6 








ont (want), 
oodn't (wouldn't). 


E 


3 




2 




nuff (enough), 
koff (coffee). 


H 


5 








eah (here). 


Sh 


4 








litta (schlitten). 


F 




3 


1 


2 


satie pin (safety pin), 
natanoon (afternoon). 


Th (soft) 


3 


1 






at (that), 
ober air (over there). 


A 


4 








fade (afraid), 
nudda (another). 


Th (hard) 






2 




ba (bath), 
mao (mouth). 


V 


1 




1 




ammum (warum). 
Duttie (Gustave). 


P 


1 








tatie (potato). 


Z 






1 




no (nose). 



160 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

A word of caution is perhaps necessary here. These 
tables do not show accurately the order of difficulty of the 
various sounds, inasmuch as they indicate the misuse of the 
sounds, not relatively to the number of correct pronuncia- 
tions of each sound, but only relatively to the total number 
of mispronunciations. For example, in the first table q 
seems an easier sound than 6, because it is only misused 
once, while h is misused three times. But if we remember 
that in the vocabularies 6 occurs fifty-five times as often as 
q, the case is entirely altered. Considered in this way, the 
order of difficulty, according to my observations, is approx- 
imately the following : r, I, th, v, sh, y, g, ch, s, j, e, f, t, n, q, 
d, k, o, w, a, h, m, p, b. The most difficult sound is r and 
the easiest 6. 

It will be observed also that, according to these tables, 
mispronunciation is very frequent in the case of double con- 
sonants, and most frequent of all in those combinations 
which belong to what Mr, Pitman calls the pi and pr series. 
Such words as cream, bracelet, and Jly are almost always 
mutilated ; sometimes r and I are replaced by w or some 
other sound ; sometimes they are omitted altogether. 

Another thing to be observed is that the choice of a sub- 
stitute for a difficult sound is often determined by the prom- 
inent consonant in the preceding or succeeding syllable. 
This leads to a reduplication of the easier sound in prefer- 
ence to the use of the more difficult one. The child says 
cawkee for coffee, kork for fork, or Id lo for la haut. The 
number of these reduplications is very large, and the device 
is adopted also in the case of difficult vowels ; e. g., Deedie 
occurs for Edie, and Dida for Ida. 

Another significant thing is the frequency with which the 
sound of e is used as a substitute for difficult sounds, both 
vowel and consonantal, especially at the end of a word. The 
child says ittie for little, finnie iorjinger, and ninnie for drink. 



LANGUAGE 161 

In addition to the mispronunciations tabulated above, I 
find a large number of miscellaneous mispronunciations 
difficult to classify, such as the following : medniss for 
medicine, Mangie fag for American flag, skoogie for excuse 
me, kidlie for tickle, pd-td-soo for patent leather shoes, etc. 

If we seek now to discover some principle underlying the 
development of child-speech from the psychic point of view, 
we shall find, I believe, that principle of transformation, 
which we have already observed so frequently elsewhere, 
operating in this sphere also. The earliest utterances of 
the new-born have little or no psychic significance. As 
expressions of his thought, they have none at all. But by 
slow degrees these primitive utterances, modified, increased 
and combined, are associated with ideas, which are also 
modified, increased and combined, until finally the instru- 
ment of language is completely under control, and becomes 
the adequate medium for the expression of thought. 

Not only may we make this statement in this general way, 
but it seems possible to trace, with approximate minuteness, 
the progress of a sound upward, from the earliest unexpres- 
sive condition to the highest, latest, most expressive state, 
and to indicate the principal stages on the way. These 
stages appear to be the same as those through which move- 
ments pass, viz., the impulsive, the reflex, the instinctive, and 
the ideational. The first sounds uttered by the child are 
simply the spontaneous will-less, idea-less manifestation of 
native motor energy. They do not require a sensory, but 
only a motor process, and that motor process is automatic. 
The same overflowing energy, the same muscle-instinct, 
which impels the child to grasp with the hands, to kick 
with the feet, etc., impels him also to the exercise of his 
lips, tongue, larynx and lungs. This is the impulsive 

stage. Then we find him uttering sounds in response 
to certain sensations. He sees a bright light, hears a 



162 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

peculiar sound, feels a soft, warm touch, and these sen- 
sations call forth certain sounds. These sounds are still 
only babblings, not involving the cooperation of will, but 
they do involve sensory as well as motor processes. The 
reflex arc, in its simplest form, is complete. Here imitation 
takes its rise. This is the reflexive stage. In the next place 
we can detect certain sounds which are expressive of the 
child's needs, and though still uttered probably without 
conscious intention, yet have a purpose and an end, viz., 
the satisfaction of those needs. The cry, which was at first 
monotonous and expressionless, now becomes differentiated 
to express various states of feeling, hunger, pain, weariness, 
etc. Here we have the instinctive stage. Finally the will 
takes full possession of the apparatus of speech, the child 
utters his words with conscious intention ; imitation of 
sounds, from being passive and unconscious, becomes active 
and conscious ; and words are joined together to give ex- 
pression to ideas of constantly increasing complexity. Here 
we have reached the ideational or deliberative stage. 

As an example of the transformation of a single sound 
through all these successive stages, let us take that sound 
which is, in the majority of cases, the first articulation, the 
syllable ma. At first this is pure spontaneity. The child 
lies contentedly in his cradle, motor energy overflows, the 
lips move, gently opening and closing, while the breath is 
expired, and this sound is produced, mamamama. As yet 
it has no meaning ; it is a purely automatic utterance. But 
by and by the same sound is called forth by certain sensa- 
tions, one of which is very probably the sight of the mother, 
or of some other person. The word as yet has no definite 
meaning, but is merely a sort of vague demonstrative ejacu- 
lation, a pure reflex. Later it becomes the expression of 
certain bodily needs and conditions, and now the hungry 
child utters this sound as the expression of the need of his 



LANGUAGE 163 

natural nourishment. By this means, the word becomes 
firmly associated with the mother, first probably with the 
breast only, but afterwards with her person in general, 
and so the final step in the transition is made, and the word 
mamma now passes out of the semiconscious, instinctive 
stage into the ideational. It becomes firmly associated with 
the mother, and with her only ; it is used with a conscious 
purpose of communicating to her the child's wishes and 
ideas, and finally, in her absence, it is used in such a way 
as to show that her image is firmly stamped on his mind 
and retained in his memory. In later life, more abstract 
and complex applications of this word are gradually mas- 
tered; but we have followed it far enough in its devel- 
opment for our present purpose. This word was chosen 
because it probably exemplifies better than any other the 
principle which we desired to illustrate, being associated 
with those feelings which arise earliest, last longest, and 
take the deepest hold upon the human soul ; but almost 
any primitive utterance of infancy could be employed to 
exemplify, in a less complete manner, the principle enun- 
ciated. 

IV. Disorders of Speech 

It has already been pointed out that the apparatus of 
speech is in, the little child as yet undeveloped. Only grad- 
ually does he obtain control of the mechanism involved in 
breathing ; only by degrees does the larynx (the organ for 
the production of tone) perfect itself; the organs of artic- 
ulation (lips, tongue, soft palate) require , much exercise in 
order to express sounds correctly ; only gradually does the 
brain become capable of so regulating the breath, the voice, 
and the articulation, that normal speech is produced. But 
in some cases the brain fails to acquire the capacity to 
bring these three components of the speech apparatus into 



164 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

harmonious cooperation; whence follows the disorder 
known as stuttering. Since the required cooperation is 
hindered by convulsive processes in the nerve-centres, stut- 
tering is a nervous disorder. The stutterer can produce 
the individual sounds correctly, but he is not able to com- 
bine them into syllables. Does he wish to speak the word 
"house," for example, he may, through convulsion in the 
breathing process, experience difficulty with the aspirate 
sound. If he wishes to say " Adolph," a convulsion in the 
muscle that opens or closes the glottis may hinder him in 
the production of the " A." If he wishes to say " Mother," 
he may be hindered in the production of " jNI," by a con- 
vulsion in the muscle that closes the lips. Consequently, 
he speaks somewhat thus: " H-H-H-ouse ; A-A-A-dolph; 
M-M-M-other." 

Stuttering may be found already fully developed in chil- 
dren two years of age; and in the school age it shows a 
considerable increase. According to statistics made by the 
teachers of Berlin in 1887, 

5.2 per cent of the stutterers were from 6 to 7 years old. 

11.7 per cent of the stutterers were from 7 to 8 years old. 

11.1 per cent of the stutterers were from 8 to 9 years old. 
13.5 per cent of the stutterers were from 9 to 10 years old. 

14.2 per cent of the stutterers were from 10 to 11 years old. 

13.8 per cent of the stutterers were from 11 to 12 years old. 
14.4 per cent of the stutterers were from 12 to 13 years old. 
16.1 per cent of the stutterers were from 13 to 14 years old. 

Investigations made in several other places yielded similar 
results. In the Berlin public schools about 1 per cent of 
the pupils were stutterers. Stuttering is more frequent 
among boys than among girls, nearly in the ratio of three to 
two. It is important that teachers should note that stutter- 
ing may begin through imitation; a stuttering pupil may 
infect his schoolmates who have normal speech. 



LANGUAGE 165 

It tas already been pointed out that most children have 
difficulty with the pronunciation of certain sounds up to the 
end of their second year. By the time they enter school, 
the majority are able to pronounce all sounds correctly; 
and yet even at this age cases of imperfect pronunciation are 
quite frequent. K and G are replaced by T and D respec- 
tively ; the lingual ~R by the palatal R ; S and L are imper- 
fectly pronounced, etc. This disorder of speech is called 
stammering ; and it has its cause either in bad teaching 
and training, or in defects of the organs of articulation. 

Stammering and stuttering must not be confounded with 
each other, for they differ essentially. The stammerer muti- 
lates individual sounds ; the stutterer brings out each sound 
correctly. Stuttering is attended by peculiar tremors, and 
the stutterer shows embarrassment under observation, 
whereas the stammerer usually speaks better under those 
conditions. Hence it follows that for each of these disor- 
ders of speech there is a distinct method of treatment. 



CHAPTER VI 

ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 

In former editions I have not ventured into this large and 
important field; and I do so now, not with any thought of 
covering it, but merely to draw attention to some of the 
more significant features, which recent investigations have 
brought to light, as marking the development of the average 
child in these aspects of his nature. 

I. The Child's Sense of the Beautiful 
In discussing the development of the aesthetic in child- 
hood, I shall refer more especially to the appreciation of the 
beautiful, and to the reproduction, by children, in pictures, 
of objects presented to their view. 

Children, at a very early age, are attracted by bright 
colors. As early as the third or fourth month they have 
been observed to look fixedly at gayly colored objects, such 
as tassels, curtains, and even pictures. There is, of course, 
in the latter case, no comprehension of the picture as a 
representation. The symbolic and representative character 
of the picture is entirely lost on the young child. The 
picture is to him a real object. He sees it merely as a fact, 
a presentation, and not at all as a symbol. In the same way 
his own image in the mirror is to him at first merely a 
presentation. Children must learn gradually, through ex- 
perience, the symbolic and representative character of all 
such things. 

If this be true, it follows also that the young child cannot 
and does not draw pictures in the proper sense of the term. 
166 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 167 

That is to say, there is an age at which he cannot under- 
stand anything as a symbol or representation, and therefore 
he cannot consciously and intentionally produce a picture 
as a representation of an object. In fact, we find here the 
same law of development, involving the same principle of 
transformation, as we have found everywhere else in the 
mental life of childhood. The first performance of a child 
with a pencil and paper is merely an aimless scribble, 
involving, on the mental side, nothing more than an outflow 
of energy, with possibly a vague, sensori-motor imitation 
of movements made by older persons in his presence. The 
product is, of course, not a representation, though it may, 
by accident, resemble some object. There was no inten- 
tion to produce a representation, no attempt to project on 
the paper any idea in the mind. 

Beginning probably about the third or fourth year, we 
may observe the dawning of the idea of representation. 
The child now begins to draw objects; and it is of the 
greatest interest to observe what are the things with which 
he, by preference, occupies himself. Ninety -nine per cent 
of the drawings at this age are drawings of human beings, 
or, at least, are intended to represent human beings. Not 
only may we see this prevailing interest in human person- 
ality, — as might be expected, if we bear in mind the fact 
that the child is surrounded from the beginning of his life 
by human beings, and looks to them constantly for the sat- 
isfaction of his wants, — but we may also observe how 
strongly children's interests are aroused by things that 
move, in preference to those that are at rest. He tries to 
represent the man walking or running, swinging his arms, 
and, in all probability, puffing great wreaths of smoke from 
an immensely elongated pipe. If he draws a house, it is 
with an abundance of chimneys, all smoking profusely. 

But all this comes at a somewhat more advanced stage. 



168 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

The earliest drawings are very rude, and conspicuously 
lacking in fulness of detail. The child appears perfectly 
content with the crudest sort of a representation, with 
something that can scarcely be called a picture at all, but 
is rather a mere symbol standing for, rather than resembling, 
the object. A rude square or circle, with perhaps a couple 
of lines projecting from the lower side, is at this stage a 
satisfactory representation of a man. Some children add 
an abundance of mere scribble instead of details; scribble 
for hands, hair, clothing, etc. Indeed, the evolution of the 
pictorial art in childhood is marked by the gradual decrease 
and final elimination of scribble ; and, at the same time, by 
the gradual increase in fulness and accuracy of detailed 
delineation. Dr. Lukens^ found that the scribble-element 
had well-nigh disappeared in the fifth year. This, of 
course, would vary greatly with different children. 

We must notice one more interesting feature of chil- 
dren's drawings. For a considerable time after the scribble- 
element has been tolerably well eliminated, the child is still 
unable to distinguish between what he sees of the object 
before him, and what he knows about the object. In other 
words, he is unable to comprehend perspective. And hence, 
in his pictures, he attempts, not a mere delineation, but a 
description of the object. He shows both eyes, and perhaps 
both ears, in a profile of the human face. He draws a house 
with three sides visible, and shows you both the legs of a 
man riding on horseback. There can be no doubt, in fact, 
that the child's earliest knowledge of an object is of a 
"vague whole"; and that his comprehension of parts and 
relations of parts, as well as his knowledge of how the object 
presents itself to the observer who is viewing it from one 
standpoint only (as in a picture), these are achievements of 

1 Pedagogical Seminary, IV. , 1. . 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 1G9 

abstraction which require time and experience. It seems 
therefore an unwise metliod that requires the child to begin 
by drawing such abstractions as lines and points, which are 
never found in nature. Let him begin by drawing a whole, 
real object, even though he draw it ever so crudely. The 
whole, real object is the concrete, and should precede the 
line and the point, which are abstractions. 

Of the decorative as distinguished from the representative 
in the art of childhood, but little can be said, so far as the 
child under seven years of age is concerned. The element 
of ornamentation was found, in Mrs. Maitland's examina- 
tion of sixteen hundred spontaneous drawings made by 
children of five to seven years, to be only 3 per cent of 
the whole. Dr. O'Shea asked a number of children to draw 
an ornamented chair. He found that 
children of five years ignored the orna- 
mentation altogether. This is entirely 
in keeping with the fact, already no- 
ticed elsewhere, that a child's thought 

about an object is closely bound up ^^^- ^- ^ °^^°- Draw- 

.,1 ., T ., ing by an American 

With Its use or purpose, and its spon- ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ 

taneous definitions of objects invariably three months. (After 

make this feature prominent. So in Lukens.) 
drawing. The parts of the object 
prominently concerned in its use or ac- 
tion are prominently portrayed ; while 

those parts whose functions are not ^"y— f^ 

obvious are likely to be ignored. / / 

A comparison of the drawings of fig. 3. A man. Draw- 
children with those of savages and ing ^y an English boy 
prehistoric peoples is very interesting tZ^JZfl^^ta^) 
and instructive. The two groups of 

drawings surprise one by their similarity. Though the adult 
savage is superior to the child in artistic skill in general, 




-OD- 



170 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 



yet the two groups of drawings show defects of the same 
general character. If one considers the child-drawings in 
Figs. 3, 4, 14, and 15, and the drawings made by savages, in 
Figs. 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, and 30, it will be 
observed at once that the first attempts 
to represent men begin with the head ; and 
to this are added some lines to represent 
arms and legs, the trunk being omitted. 
The drawings of animals (Figs. 5a, 56, 27) 
show a similar incompleteness. Children's 
attempts to depict action (Figs. 7, 8, 9a, 9&, 
10, 11a, 116, lie, 12) may be compared with 
Fig. 24, drawn by an Indian, and showing 
a man in the act of shooting; or with 
Fig. 25, showing a man smoking a pipe; or 
with Fig. 31, drawn by a prehistoric artist, 
and showing a man swinging his arms. 
When children and savages draw the hu- 
man form, they regularly select for their 
first sketches the front view (Figs. 3, 4, 
6, 11a, 116, lie, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 25) ; 
animals, on the other hand, are nearly al- 




FiG. 4. 

A man. Drawing by 

an English boy in 

his fourth year. 

{After Sully.) 




Fig. 5. (a) a cat (1, 
whiskers; 2, tail). Fig. 
{h) a bird. Draw- 
ings by an English 
girl between three 
and four years of 
age. {After Sully.) 





V 

Fig. 7. Draw- 
ing by a five- 
year-old Eng- 
lish boy. 
{After Sully.) 



ESTHETIC, MOEAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 171 





Fig. 10. Drawing by an 
English boy. (After 
Sully.) 



Via. 9. Drawings by two seven-year-old 
German boys. 






Fig. 11. Drawings by three six-year-old German boys. 

ways drawn in profile from the first (Figs. 19, 26, 27, 28, 29, 
32, 33, 34). The picture of a rider is made, by both children 
and savages, with both legs visible, as though the horse's 
body were non-existent or transparent (Figs. 19a, 196, 26). 
The fact that one thing hides another confuses the children 
as well as the savages in their designs. 

If we study the drawings of children up to the age of 
about fourteen, as has been done in recent years by Levin- 
stein, and by Kerschensteiner, we may distinguish five 
stages in the development of the child's ability to draw : 



172 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 




K 



Fig. 14. Drawing by 
a six-year-old Ger- 
FiG. 12. Drawing by Fig. 13. Drawing by an ^^^ ^°^- 

a six-year-old Eng- English child. (After 

lish boy. (After Sully.) 

Sully.) 





Fig. 17. Drawing by 
a five year-old Eng- 
lish boy. (After 
Sully.) 



Fig. 16. Drawing by Fig. 16, Drawing by an 

a five-year-old girl American girl of four 

from Jamaica. years and three months. 

(After Sully.) (After Lukens.) 

(1) The scribble stage, already referred 
to, and well illustrated by Figs. 2 and 16. 

(2) The stage in which the child or the 
savage seeks to express, by means of line- 
constructions, what he knows of the ob- 
ject. He cares little for accuracy in the 
representation of form, and so the pic- 
ture is a symbol rather than a likeness. 




Fig. 18. Drawing by 
a nine-year-old Ger- 
man boy. 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 173 




Fig. 19. (a) Drawing by a seven- 
year-old German boy. (b) Drawing 
by an eight-year-old German girl. 

Fig. 22. A man. 
Drawing by a 
North American 
Indian. {After 

) 



Q 



•|l 



ff^ 



Fig. 20. A man. Draw- 
ing by an adult negro 
from Uganda. (After 
Sully.) 




Fig. 21. Drawing by 
an adult Indian from 
Brazil. (After Sully.) 



':P 



c9^ 



SL© 



Fig. 23. A man. 
Drawing by a 
Zulu woman. 

(After Sully.) 




Fig. 24. Drawing by a 
North American In- 
dian. (After Sully.) 



Fig. 25. Drawing by a 
North American Indian. 
(After Sully.) 



174 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

Sometimes tlie head of a man is represented by an oval or a 
circle (Figs. 3, 4, 6, 7, S, 11, 21, 24, 25), sometimes by a rec- 
tangle or a square (Figs. 14, 15, 22). The body is some- 
times omitted (Figs. 3, 4, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24), sometimes 
represented by diverse fanciful forms (Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 
12, 17, 18). The appendages of the limbs receive no con- 
sideration (Figs. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 21, 22). The number 
of fingers and toes varies greatly (Figs. 6, 116, lie, 15, 196, 
20, 21, 23, 31). 

(3) Gradually, however, the child strives to depict not 
merely the notional content, but the formal relation also. 
In doing this, of course, the schematic or symbolic is still 
mixed with the representation of the true appearance of the 
object. The drawing is partly symbolic, and partly repre- 
sentative in the latter sense. Kerschensteiner calls this 
the stage of the beginning of the appreciation of lines and 
forms. The impossible trunk-forms are no longer found; 
arm and leg positions are rightly observed; the rhythm of 
movement, and the position of the clothing, are represented 
with approximate correctness; the individual members of 
the body stand in appropriate relations; details are often 
given a characteristic reproduction. For illustration of 
some of these characteristics, the reader might observe Fig. 
35, where the limbs are in the correct positions ; or Fig. 36, 
where movement is represented ; or Fig. 37, where the pro- 
trusion of the arms from the sleeves, and of the legs from 
the trousers, are represented with approximate correctness. 

(4) With the child's further progress all schematism is 
eliminated from his drawings, and the representation is as 
nearly as possible a copy of the object. Kerschensteiner 
calls this the silhouette stage. The child does not yet 
possess the power to express space in the third dimension ; 
the representation is limited to the plane surface. Up to 
the tenth year of life this sort of drawing is the rule, and 



.ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 175 




Fig. 26. Drawing Fig. 27. A jaguar. Drawing by a Fig. 28. A stag, 
by a North Amer- Brazilian Indian. {After Levin- Drawing by a 
lean Indian. {Af- stein.) North Ameri- 

ter Sully.) can Indian. 

{After Levin- 
stein.) 



Fig. 29. A dugong. Draw- 
ing by an Australian ne- 
gro. {After Levinstein.) 



/TV 




Fig. 30. A human head. 
Drawing by a prehistoric 
man. Found in the south 
of France. {After Levin- 
stein.) 



Fig. 32. A cave bear. Drawing by a pre- 
historic man of Massat in southern 
France. {After Levinstein.) 




Fig. 31. A man. 
Drawing by a pre- 
historic man. 
Found in the south 
of France. {After 
Levinstein.) 



Fig. 33. A mammoth. Drawing by a prehistoric man 
of Combarelle in southern France. {After Hoernes.) 



176 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 




Fig. 35. Drawing by an 
eleven-year-old boy. {Af- 
ter Kerschensteiner.) pjQ 




36. Drawing by an eight- 
year-old German girl. {After 
Kerschensteiner.) 




Fig. 37. Drawing by an eleven- 
year-old German girl. {After 
Kerschensteiner.) 



Fig. 38. Drawing by an eleven- 
year-old German boy. {After 
Kerschensteiner.) 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 177 





Fig. 39. Drawing by a twelve- 
year-old German boy. (After 
Kerschensteiner.) 



Fig. 41. Drawing by a twelve- 
year-old German boy. {After 
Kerschensteiner.) 



without some instruction the majority 
of children never get any further. Fig- 
ures 38 and 39 belong to this stage. 
(5) From the eleventh year children 
_^ ^ , are able to express objects in three di- 
^■"^ ( f ^ mensions of space. Individual mem- 
FiG. 40, Drawing by a bers of the body are made round by 
thirteen-year-old Ger- means of suitable distribution of light 
man boy. (After Ker- ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ by appropriate lines. 
The pupil now draws in perspective. 
The human figure is shown henceforth 




schensteiner.) 



178 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

in the most varied positions and movements. This stage of 
the child's graphic expression Kerschensteiner calls the 
stage of the representation of form. It is illustrated in 
Figs. 40 and 41. 

To trace the rise and development of the feeling of the 
beautiful to anything like fulness, would carry us, as it 
seems to me, far beyond the period of early childhood. The 
infant is attracted by gay colors, but this seems to be an affair 
of the sensory chiefly. And even as such it apparently 
does not extend to form or arrangement. A well-arranged 
bouquet possesses no more attractions for a child of one or 
two years than an ill-arranged one, so far as my observa- 
tions go. He cares no more for a beautiful form than for 
one that we adults would call ugly ; as witness the ardent 
affection of many a child for a dilapidated and filthy rag- 
doll in preference to any new and beautiful one. A boy of 
two and a half years, whom I have had much opportunity 
of observing, plays constantly with an old toy wagon, so 
decrepit as to require almost daily repairs, while he ignores 
completely the gayly painted and beautiful new one which 
his father has bought for him. This, of course, is not held 
to be an evidence of a perverted aesthetic taste, but rather 
merely that aesthetic considerations are as yet practically 
inoperative in the choice of playthings. 

It seems also extremely doubtful whether a child under 
ten years of age is able to enter fully into those feelings 
which actuate most adults on beholding a beautiful land- 
scape, a splendid painting, or a magnificent product of 
architectural skill. He is not able as yet to understand the 
feelings experienced by us in the presence of these things, 
partly, at least, because he is not yet strong enough, men- 
tally, to grasp them as total effects, but can notice only some 
prominent and striking detail ; partly, also, because there is 
but little movement or life in the landscape, and none at all 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 179 

in the painting or the building. All the actions of little 
children go to show that their preferences are determined 
far more by the amount of vitality and movement in the 
object than by any sesthetic qualities it may possess. 

II. The Moral Nature of the Child 

Passing now to a brief notice of the moral nature of child- 
hood, I must first of all express my strong conviction, based 
upon observation as well as upon abstract reasoning, that 
moral ideas do not require to be created or implanted in the 
minds of children by their elders. Nothing is more certain 
than that the child is born potentially a moral being, pos- 
sessing a moral nature which requires only to be evoked and 
developed by environmental conditions. If this be not true, 
then neither is it true that he is born potentially an active 
being, possessing a volitional nature which requires only 
to be evoked and developed by suitable conditions. If no 
amount of training can ever make a moral being of a dog, 
it is because he possesses no moral nature to begin with. 
If a child is capable of attaining to advanced moral ideas 
and distinctions, it is because he possesses at the outset a 
moral nature upon which instruction and discipline can take 
hold. An empirical account of the derivation of the moral 
nature out of conditions in which no germs of it are to be 
found, fails utterly when tested either by observed facts or 
by logical criticism. 

But, on the other hand, it would be equally wide of the 
mark to say that children are born into the world fully 
equipped moral beings. The same transformation, in fact, 
takes place here as elsewhere. The new-born is everything 
potentially, nothing actually. He is full to overflowing 
with moral capabilities, which awake to active functioning- 
as soon as the proper conditions are extant; just as his 



180 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

senses awake to active functioning as soon as the proper 
material conditions become available. And these capabili- 
ties and tendencies, moreover, which I have here called 
moral, do not all point in one direction. Some of them, as 
Professor Sully remarks, are pro-moral, and others are 
contra-moral. The young child betrays astonishing capaci- 
ties for virtue, and, at the same time, equally surprising 
capabilities for vice. He is capable of the loftiest achieve- 
ments in virtue, and, at the same time (and very likely for 
the same reason), he is capable of sinking to the lowest 
depths of depravity. But at the outset he is neither 
the one nor the other, simply because he lacks, as yet, 
that comprehension of moral law, and of the relation of 
actions thereto, which is a sine qua non of both virtue 
and vice. 

It follows, too, from all this, that the actions of a young 
child must be viewed from a somewhat different standpoint, 
and judged by somewhat different criteria, from those 
applied to the actions of adults, if we would avoid a mis- 
taken moral diagnosis. A child's act, on its external side, 
may resemble very closely that of an adult in the same cir- 
cumstances ; but, on the inner side, it may be devoid of that 
conscious intention to compass a certain end, which is 
essential to its strictly ethical character. A man may 
behave in a cruel manner to his horse, in the full knowl- 
edge of the pain he is inflicting, and in full consciousness 
of the disharmony between his conduct and the moral ideal ; 
a child pulls the cat's tail, very likely with no idea of the 
painful consequences of his act, merely from an overflow of 
energy, or as an expression of his instinct of power. Obvi- 
ously, the two actions differ very widely in moral character. 
So, as many careful observers can testify, the falsehoods of 
children are not always lies, and their acts of rebellion 
against authority do not, in every case, possess all the 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 181 

marks of malicious and premeditated disobedience. Little 
children are swayed, to a very great extent, by the vivid- 
ness of their imagination and by the strength of their 
impulses. Conscious, deliberate, moral conduct requires 
time and experience for its full development. 

Nevertheless, when once the moral nature has awakened 
into activity, there is no class of ideas which children accept 
more readily than those of morality. To find that certain 
things are " right " and others " wrong," causes them not 
more surprise than to find that certain articles of food 
are beneficial and others injurious. The fact that a child 
requires instruction and a certain accumulation of experi- 
ence in order that he shall properly classify concrete actions 
under ethical rubrics, is no more an argument in favor of 
the experiential origin of his moral ideas than is his fail- 
ure to correctly locate distant objects an argument in favor 
of the experiential derivation of the idea of space. Indeed, 
it seems to me that a very instructive parallel may be drawn 
just here. As, in the case of perception, the discernment of 
the actual space-qualities of real objects becomes more and 
more accurate through the accumulation of experience, 
while, on the other hand, no object could ever have been 
perceived at all but for the space-form contributed by the 
subject; so it is in moral distinctions. Experience and 
instruction quicken our discernment of the moral qualities 
of concrete acts ; but at the same time, the very first act of 
moral discernment, as well as all subsequent ones, presup- 
pose and require that ethical-form, if I may so name it, 
which is the contribution of the subject himself. 

During recent years numerous valuable investigations have 
been carried out concerning children's falsehoods, some re- 
sults of which may be briefly indicated, as they are of great 
importance for teachers. In America Stanley Hall has 
studied the lies of children, particularly during the period 



182 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

of compulsory school attendance; Sully in England, and 
Compayre in France, liave made studies of the falsehoods of 
little children; in Germany Stern has thrown light upon 
this subject in a new, and for pedagogy, highly significant 
way. On the basis of all these investigations we can divide 
the falsehoods of children into three groups : (1) False- 
hoods due to unconscious memory illusions ; (2) Spontaneous 
or natural lies ; (3) Pathological or morbid lies. 

Stern made studies of school boys and girls from seven to 
eighteen years of age. He investigated not merely the ut- 
terances that took the form of connected statements, but 
included also a systematic examination, calculated to deter- 
mine the effect produced by questions both of the suggestive 
and of the non-suggestive type. He found that in the case of a 
statement, 6 per cent of the assertions were false, whereas in 
the case of an interrogation, the number of false assertions rose 
to thirty-three. From which he has shown that even among 
mentally normal school boys and girls statements are made, 
quite unconsciously, which diverge widely from the facts. 
Stimulated by Stern, Kosog also carried on investigations on 
school children. One day, before the beginning of the lessons, 
he placed three objects, a penholder, a pocket-knife, and a 
piece of chalk, so near to the edge of the teacher's desk that 
they could be plainly seen by all the pupils. During recess 
Kosog removed the objects, and then, after the pupils had 
reassembled, asked them what they had seen on the desk 
in the first hour. Although during that first hour their 
.eyes had been constantly directed towards the teacher's 
desk, the objects had entirely escaped their attention; only 
two of them had noticed the pocket-knife. On the follow- 
ing day Kosog tested the effects of suggestion. He left the 
desk entirely bare during the first hour, and at the begin- 
ning of the second hour put the same questions as on the 
preceding day. Now 26 per cent of the pupils claimed that 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND EELIGIOUS IDEAS 183 

they liad seen the pocket-knife, 57 per cent the chalk, and 
63 per cent the penhokler. 

Kemsies carried out the following investigation : Between 
two eight-year-old boys there had been a fight in the school 
yard, in which the one had struck the other on the nose and 
made it bleed. Kemsies at once questioned both combatants 
and two witnesses ; then after three and a half months he 
questioned them a second time; then four months later, a 
third time. At the second examination the combatant who 
had gotten the worst of it made much more detailed state- 
ments than at the first ; the witnesses were not certain in their 
recollection ; one of them confused the persons ; whereas at 
the third questioning he represented the whole affair exactly 
as he had at the first. 

Agahd reports the following : A pupil had been punished 
with three strokes of a rod. This took place in front of the 
teacher's desk, and was witnessed by a class of fifty-two 
children. After five days Agahd put the following ques- 
tions : " Who saw me punish F ? " Forty pupils indicated 
that they had. " When did I punish him ? " Thirty-one 
gave the correct day. " In what lesson period ? " Twenty- 
six pupils answered correctly. " How many blows did he 
get ? " Twenty -four correct answers were given. " Did F 
have to stoop before he was punished ? " Twelve children 
answered erroneously, and four of these were seated on the 
two front benches. Regarding the reason of the punishment, 
there were eight different answers from thirty-five children. 
Investigations like these show that correct answers are a 
psychological achievement that children are more or less 
incapable of. This fact is of great practical significance. 
It places in a new light the practice of examining children 
as witnesses in courts of justice. A child may be unobjec- 
tionable, morally as well as intellectually, and yet his testi- 
mony may be entirely worthless, because he is in a high 



184 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

degree susceptible to suggestion. On this account Stern, 
Baginski, and others, rightly claim that the taking of the 
evidence of children in courts of justice should be abol- 
ished ; and we can concur in the opinion that no one under 
the age of fifteen should be placed in the witness-box. This 
is already the case in Sweden. The statements of children 
must be received by the teacher also, in the numerous inci- 
dents of school life, with the greatest caution. 

There is a gradual transition from falsehood as an uncon- 
scious memory illusion to the spontaneous or natural lie, 
under which we may include some cases of conscious and 
deliberate perversion of the truth. This kind of falsehood 
has various causes, prominent among which is the instinct 
of self-preservation. When questioned about some wrong- 
doing of which he has been guilty, the child is likely to 
deny his guilt, and seek to throw suspicion upon some one 
else. This kind of falsehood appears especially during 
school life. Pupils are often tempted to deceive the teacher 
with regard to tasks and various other matters ; they pre- 
tend to have headache, nosebleed, etc., in order to escape 
from school duties. Again, many falsehoods spring from 
the desire to please, or from the fear of giving offence. This 
is particularly noticeable in the case of girls, and may de- 
velop into the great moral evil of insincerity or deceit. If 
one asks a child whether he likes or admires a certain thing, 
he will not always tell the truth, for fear of hurting the 
feelings of the questioner. Conventional politeness is a 
fruitful source of falsehood. Children in many cases are 
actually trained to deceive. " Say I am not at home, " or 
" Say nothing to your father about this, " are common in- 
structions. Custom and imitation also foster falsehood. 
Moreover, the impulse to stand by an untruth once uttered 
is very human, and in the child is strengthened by the fear 
of discovery. Again, clever boys and girls often amuse them- 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 185 

selves by deceiving others less clever than themselves. In 
this way there arise, in the nursery and the school ground, 
myths and legends which are taken seriously by the unsophis- 
ticated. The knowledge that others have succeeded in these 
deceptions easily awakens in children the impulse to do like- 
wise. Phantasy and suggestion are further chief causes of 
mendacity. Every one who has observed the play of the 
child, and his dramatic dialogue, knows how easily and com- 
pletely he can imagine the non-existent and forget the present 
reality. When the child in his play says, "I am a coachman," 
" The doll cries," etc., the psychologist will not be disquieted, 
knowing that he has to do here only with a play of the phan- 
tasy. Yet these phenomena may develop into real lies. 
An unbridled phantasy and a strong love of success will 
easily cause older children to assert what to them is at most 
only vaguely known. As was pointed out above, a stronger 
mind can, through suggestive questions, easily overcome the 
child's own conviction, and bring him to the confession of 
that which sharply contradicts the actual facts. Such pas- 
sive utterances become lies if the child seeks to gain advan- 
tage from consciously yielding to the suggestion. 

From this type of falsehood there is a gi'adual transition 
to the pathological or morbid lie. In the case of the latter 
there is not only a consciousness of the incorrectness of the 
assertion made, but also an abnormal condition of the brain 
or of its functions, showing itself in a high susceptibility to 
suggestion, and in hyperphantasy. We have already pointed 
out that a morbidly heightened phantasy is a cause of the 
pathological lie. Some examples will illustrate the charac- 
teristics of this sort of falsehood. Henneberg observed the 
following case : A sixteen-year-old pupil in a girls' school 
appeared one day in the school with a bandage about her 
head. She explained that she was suffering from a disease 
of the ear, on account of which she had been operated on 



186 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

by a surgeon. She described every detail of the operation. 
Frequently she wept on account of the pain in her ear. 
After some weeks the teacher became suspicious, and went 
with the pupil to the doctor she had named. In the hos- 
pital the girl knew her way about, and recognized the doc- 
tors and the staff. Examination showed that her ear was 
quite sound, and that she had not been operated on; yet 
she persisted in her statements, though her relatives knew 
nothing of the alleged ear disease. They had never seen 
her with the bandage about her head. Only by degrees 
did the girl abandon the idea of the ear disease. It trans- 
pired that she had frequently visited a lady who was suffer- 
ing from ear trouble and who had been operated on in the 
hospital in question. This lady had given the girl very 
minute descriptions of her sojourn in the hospital, and had 
shown her a photograph of the operating surgeon. 

Oppermann reports the next case. A mother appeared at 
police headquarters with a well-developed daughter, eleven 
years old, and made the statement that her child had suffered 
personal violence at the hands of a man whom she named. 
Some other children were brought along as witnesses. The 
statements of the girl were so exact and definite that one 
could not help believing them at once. The laborer in 
question, a man of irreproachable character, was arrested 
the same evening. He declared most emphatically that he 
was not acquainted with the child, and had no knowledge 
whatever of the affair. The girl at first adhered to her 
statements, whereas the other children soon admitted that 
they had not seen the assault, and knew of it only through 
her statements. However, after a medical examination had 
proven the whole story of the crime to be without founda- 
tion, the girl finally admitted that it was entirely her own 
invention. Questioned as to her motive, she said that she 
had heard of such things, and had desired for once to tell 
something of this kind also. 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 187 

Scholz observed the following case: A ten-year-old 
schoolgirl had in the open street taken some money away 
from a little child not yet of school age, and had run off 
with it. On being questioned, she at first denied having 
taken the money ; but later, on being urged to tell the truth, 
and being promised immunity from punishment, she ad- 
mitted having stolen thirty pfennige, but said that she had 
thrown it into the grass. Scholz went with her to find the 
money, and on the way she began to cry, and said that her 
mother never had any money, and she needed so many shoes, 
and that she had paid the shoemaker for the shoes. In- 
quiry, however, showed that not a word of this was true. 
On a further cross-questioning the girl finally confessed 
that she had bought herself rolls and chocolate with the 
money. 

The pathological lie appears not only as an independent 
phenomenon, but also as an accompaniment of hysteria, 
imbecility, and mania. 

Several studies have been made, by Professor Earl 
Barnes and others,^ on the subject of punishment, and it 
is found that all children admit that wrong acts require 
punishment, though the reasons given are various, and 
among the younger children there is, as one would expect, 
a certain readiness to accept the dicta of authority on the 
question. This feature, however, is far less prominent than 
one might suppose, and decreases rapidly with the growth 
of the child. It is also to be observed that the number of 
children who take an exclusively utilitarian view of the 
purpose of punishment is surprisingly small. In one in- 
vestigation, while 38 per cent of the children said the pun- 
ishment was just "because children ought to obey," only 
6 per cent said " because it would make the child more care- 
ful in future." This suggests a very important thought, 

1 See Pedagogical Seminary. 



188 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

viz. , that all punishment ought to be based directly on the 
moral law. In other words, it ought always to be under- 
stood, when a child is punished, that he is suffering because 
of his violation of right, suffering because he has done 
wrong, because he has transgressed the commands of those 
who, to him, are the living representatives of moral order. 
To base all punishment on mere " consequences " in the way 
of pain and pleasure, as Spencer and Rousseau have done, 
is to lose sight entirely of the real purpose of moral disci- 
pline, and hopelessly to obscure the real issue at stake. 
Natural law is one thing, moral law is another. To confine 
child-punishment to the " discipline of consequences " is to 
ignore the existence of moral law altogether. Such a method 
receives its most telling rebuke from the children themselves, 
when they tell us that they consider punishment not merely 
as corrective and preventive, but also as retributive — 
the vengeance of a moral environment against a wilful 
violation of its sanctity. The attempted reduction of moral 
law to natural law is simply an attempt to get rid of moral 
law altogether. It entirely ignores the element of per- 
sonality, and dilutes responsibility by placing accidents 
that are followed by physical pain on exactly the same 
level as moral dereliction. According to this "discipline 
of consequences," it should be just as wrong to stumble 
and hurt oneself as to disobey one's parents and be pun- 
ished. But any child knows better than this without 
special instruction. The doctrine, moreover, utterly con- 
fuses the child's moral perspective by teaching him (by 
implication) that uo action of his is wrong provided he 
can manage to escape its painful consequences. But it is 
scarcely necessary to discuss further at present a doctrine 
already so widely discredited by competent psychologists 
and educators. It is, however, very gratifying to be able 
to express my thorough conviction that the normal child, 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 189 

as well as the average, unsophisticated man, is at one with 
Kant, in his thoroughgoing separation of moral law and 
moral obligation from every vestige of dependence on 
" empirical instigations." 

III. The Eeligious Nature of the Child 

These considerations lead naturally to our final topic, the 
religious nature of the child. The connecting link between 
morality and religion, so far, at least, as childhood is con- 
cerned, is to be found in several facts, which may serve as 
the occasion for the few remarks we have to make : 

(1) Right and good are naturally connected, in the child's 
mind, with the personality of some adult for whom he feels 
affection, reverence, and trust. As moral ideas develop, 
they are naturally closely associated with those persons 
(normally the parents) whose wishes, commands, prohi- 
bitions, are coincident with, and very apt to become 
synonymous in the child's mind with the requirements of 
a moral order. Hence, the element of responsibility to 
some superior person becomes clearly developed; and this 
comes to pass the more easily in view of the fact that com- 
prehension of the wish of a real person is much less diffi- 
cult than comprehension of abstract moral distinctions. 

(2) In this way, as is perfectly natural, the child comes 
to look upon ^ome person (in all probability his mother) as 
the living embodiment of moral worth as well as of moral 
order. He feels his responsibility to her ; he knows she is 
pleased when he does right, and displeased when he does 
wrong. His ideas of right and wrong become inseparably 
associated with her personality. In a very real sense she 
stands to him in the place of God. And perhaps it may not 
be irreverent to suggest (though the tremendous respon- 
sibility of parenthood is thereby clearly indicated) that a 



.190 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

child's parents sJiould, as they in most cases certainly do, 
constitute his divinity j)ro tern. : all the divinity that he, 
at least up to a certain age, is able to understand ; and that 
his worship of the7n is probably the best preparation he can 
have for a higher worship later on. Reverence and love 
for parents are the best prelude to reverence and love for 
Jehovah. It is a tolerably safe assertion that a child who, 
for any reason, has never worshipped his mother, will be by 
so much the less likely ever to worship any other divinity. 
The child who has never known what it meant to be trained 
in voluntary submission of his will to the will of wise 
parents, will be by so much the less likely ever to yield to 
God that ardent submission and service which is the mark 
of the truly religious life. 

(3) Should I be charged with anthropomorphism on 
account of these remarks, I should make a twofold answer : 
In the first place, in the case of a young child, you must 
choose between anthropomorphism and nothing at all. He 
is not yet able to comprehend a purely spiritual personality. 
He lives in the world of sense, and is, for the present, com- 
pletely confined to the material. And if God, to him, is 
not like father or mother (the best people the child knows), 
to whom shall he be compared ? And I should like to ask 
my supposed critic, even though he be a professor of the- 
ology or metaphysic, whether he is quite certain that his 
own conception of the Divine Being, even at threescore 
years and ten, is absolutely free from the last vestige of 
anthropom orphism. 

And, in the second place, is it fair to assume, at the 
outset, that anthropomorphism is entirely evil and false ? 
Does a sound theology or philosophy acknowledge no com- 
munity of attributes between God and man? Is not that 
rather the truest view, which looks upon man as made in 
the divine likeness ; and teaches that one of the most elf ec- 



ESTHETIC, MORAL, AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 191 

tive channels to knowledge of God is by way of a true 
insight into the real nature of man ? 

(4) And now, if this be the road to religious training, 
viz., through human personality to the Divine, does it not 
follow, as Dr. Hall has said,^ that religious, as well as 
moral, training should begin in the cradle? Reverential 
submission to parental authority, implicit trust in parental 
wisdom, and tender affection in response to parental love, 
— these are the natural preludes to religion in the higher 
sense, and these can be cultivated almost from the very 
dawn of conscious life. 

(5) " But," it may be objected, "you have not shown that 
religious training is any necessary part of child culture. 
May it not be worth while to inquire whether there is really 
any place for religion in human culture ; whether we ought 
not to eliminate this relic of superstition and substitute for 
it the knowledge and worship of nature ? " 

To this I answer by simply pointing to the religious na- 
ture as a bona fide constituent of human thought and feel- 
ing. It is no more a spurious interpolation than is the 
moral life. A sound and thoroughgoing psychological 
analysis finds it as a datum of human consciousness, ca- 
pable, of course, like every other faculty, of development 
through experience, as well as of distortion through false 
teaching; but withal a genuine thing, not owing its origin 
to the superstitions of the nursery. And if education in 
the true sense means the development of the whole person- 
ality, then the religious nature demands its share in the 
culture of the individual. And if this demand be refused, 
the individual is by so much imperfectly developed.^ 

1 Pedagogical Seminary, I., 2. 

2 It will be observed that I have employed no other but the psycho- 
logical argument ; not because of any lack of confidence in other lines 
of proof, but merely because none of the others lies within the scope 
of this treatise. 



192 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

(6) What, then, finally, shall be the relation of nature- 
study to religious training ? Little children are constantly 
speculating as to the sources of things in the material 
world. No question is more frequently on their lips than, 
" Who made this ? " " Where did this come from ? " Is there 
no connection between this and the religious consciousness? 
Surely! The soundest metaphysical view with which I am 
acquainted finds the whole visible material universe to be 
but the infinitely varied and beautiful expression of one 
great, eternal being. Through nature, then, to nature's 
God, would seem to be one of the ways and means of 
religious growth, and natural religion becomes the basis and 
indispensable prelude to revealed religion. A proper appre- 
ciation of nature, as the product of the Divine power and 
wisdom, is by no means an unworthy stepping-stone to a 
proper appreciation of redemption as an expression of the 
Divine Love. 



CHAPTER VII 

Psychopathic Conditions in Child Life 

In the foregoing chapters the normal phenomena of the 
child's mental life were treated ; of his abnormal states only 
the simpler forms were referred to, as occasion required. It 
remains to treat in this chapter of complex mental disorders, 
or psychopathies. These are diseased conditions, to which 
the child is either more or less predisposed from birth, or 
comes to be so in the course of years. They lay hold of 
and alter the entire personality ; they are therefore to be 
designated diseases. They stand in a certain contrast to the 
simple or elementary mental disorders, inasmuch as the 
latter make their appearance singly, and do not take posses- 
sion of the whole personality of the child. These simple 
mental disorders may occur in healthy as well as in unhealthy 
children. A child may suffer from a hallucination, a weak- 
ness of memor}^, an idea-rout, a thought impediment, a fixed 
idea, an illusion, or a hyperphantasy, etc., without being 
mentally diseased, properly speaking, since these elementary 
disorders of the psychic life occur only singly or transitorily. 

The necessity of psychopathological knowledge for the 
teacher has been convincingly presented by such eminent 
psychiatrists as Koch, Krapelin, Pelman, Scholz, Sommer, 
and Ziehen ; also by such well-known educationists as 
Heller, Spitzner, Striimpel, Trilper, and Ufer. As Trtiper 
well says : " Teachers and educators who are intrusted 
with psychopathic abnormalities see much that they have 
hitherto not seen, and understand much that they have 



194 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

hitherto not understood. They are not at a loss when an 
ordinarily well-behaved child suddenly becomes excited 
and can scarcely grasp an idea. They are filled with solici- 
tous questionings immediately, when they see cases of 
morbid over-conscientiousness and zeal. They are cautious 
in their judgment of special endowments and over-pre- 
cocity, for they know that many a brilliant flame is from a 
straw fire, which, after a short blaze, sinks down of itself, 
and is the more quickly extinguished the more one blows 
upon it. They deal with many an idleness, many a dis- 
obedience, many a lassitude, differently from what they did 
before. They know that often a child who at heart is good 
and tractable becomes stubborn and wilful only when his 
peculiarities and naughtiness are rigidly resisted and un- 
reasonably opposed. They will see to it that the real inner 
nature of such a child is drawn out by sympathetic treatment 
and that he is not imposed upon by injudicious associates, 
nor heartlessly ostracized for his conduct. They will not 
inflict punishment upon a psychopathic child who can neither 
sit still, nor hold his tongue, nor comprehend instruction. 
They will not punish this nervous unrest with blows, but 
will seek to cure it by means of isolation and quiet. They 
will judge differently many lies and boasting stories, know- 
ing that these may result from mental disorder, and that the 
child himself may believe all that he says. Regarding the 
question of overwork also, a distinction will be made between 
healthy pupils and those whose nerves cannot endure the 
strain of things. Particular attention will be given to 
pupils who are mentally weak. The teacher will seek, not 
only in the matter of instruction, but in physical exercise as 
well, to avoid excessive demands. Above all things he will 
urge the parents to keep their children from mimicking the 
unnatural actions of adults, by which so frequently the 
nervous system in young children is weakened, and there is 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 195 

engendered a vanity and an inordinate desire for enjoyment 
which poisons both mind and soul." 

Mental disturbances, or psychopathies, are usually divided 
into ps?/c7iic derangements (in which the principal symptoms 
are mental) and neural diseases (in which physical and 
mental indications run parallel. Of the former, it is impor- 
tant that the teacher should understand the nature of mania, 
melancholia, paranoia, and especially imbecility, or inborn 
idiocy. Of the latter, he should be able to recognize epi- 
lepsy, and especially neurasthenia and hysteria. 

I. The Psychic Derangements 

Mania may be recognized chiefly by the following signs : 
idea-rout, i.e., abnormal acceleration of the processes of 
ideation ; unnatural exaltation of spirits ; and abnormal in- 
crease of the motor impulse. Of these symptoms the most 
prominent is the second. The other two have already been 
referred to as simple derangements. The abnormal motor 
impulse shows itself in a great unrest. Children who have 
previously sat quietly, begin to rage violently ; books, 
clothes, and playthings are senselessly destroyed, quarrels 
and fights with comrades are frequent. Sleeplessness is a 
common feature of these cases, while in connection with the 
abnormal exaltation of spirits is an inclination towards 
boasting and lying. In school the subject of these disorders 
is inattentive, defiant, and addicted to all sorts of childish 
tricks. Mania in children is not altogether uncommon. 
Three examples will serve to illustrate its nature. 

Lahr tells of a nine-year-old boy who, in consequence of 
rigorous discipline, was frequently in a bad temper, morbid 
and gloomy. Later he became subject to passionate and 
wilful outbreaks. He would display towards others a rude- 
ness of which he had never previously been guilty: In all 



196 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

this activity lie showed peculiar haste. His temper was 
cheerful, his eye piercing, his sleep restless. He answered 
questions readily, but could not keep his attention fixed. 

Esquirol observed an eight-year-old girl who became 
mentally disturbed after a severe fright. Her speech was 
for the most part correct, but she was incapable of prolonged 
attention. Frequently she would escape from her mother 
or governess, and roam about the town. Once she ran into 
the hotel yard and ordered the horses harnessed, setting 
herself up as mistress of the house. She maintained that 
she had won a large sum of money in a lottery. If she 
were in a shop she would pounce upon the money which her 
mother or any other purchaser might be paying out. She 
was in the habit of striking and otherwise tormenting people 
with whom she came into contact, especially if they came 
near her mother. Often she would sit in a dreamy state, 
but the instant she came out of it she was as restless and 
mischievous as ever. She absolutely refused to obey her 
mother in anything. 

Schonthal describes the following case : A girl of thirteen 
stumbled on a staircase, fell forward, and, her feet having 
caught, remained hanging for some little time head down- 
wards. Although soon rescued from her position, she was 
terribly frightened. On the evening of the same day she 
was seized with twitchings and contortions of the limbs. 
Occasionally her whole body would be convulsed. After 
the spasms she was cheerful, but excited, laughing and 
talking a great deal. Psychical irregularities showed them- 
selves. She refused to work at anything, was abnormally 
cheerful, and inclined to play all kinds of tricks. For in- 
stance, she went walking in a brook, barefooted, and carry- 
ing an umbrella. She would sing and whistle, and not 
infrequently use unbecoming language. She would strike 
her mother and sisters, was disobedient, would run away 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 197 

from home, and play foolish pranks. The paroxysms in- 
creased in severity and duration, so that eventually the girl 
was quite incapable of sitting quietly at any work. While 
she slept the spasms ceased, but sleep itself was disturbed. 

Melancholia is a mental disorder whose chief symptoms 
are retardation of the thought processes, abnormal sadness 
or depression, and unnatural restriction of movement. Mel- 
ancholy is the outstanding mark. Inertia shows itself iu 
the slowness of all movements. The child sits for hours in 
the same place, disinclined for even the least movements. 
Melancholia occurs in childhood more frequently than mania. 
Of 179 children mentally aiflicted, whom Blin observed, 54 
suffered from melancholia, and 35 from mania. Many child 
suicides are the result of melancholia. The following cases 
will illustrate this disorder: 

Ziehen observed a fourteen-year-old boy whose develop- 
ment in early childhood was normal. At school he was 
pedantic and conscientious to an exaggerated degree, as well 
as being easily thrown into over-anxiety. Aside from this, 
however, he was of a cheerful temperament. Although he 
did not learn very easily, he was among the best scholars in 
the class. When his mother was afflicted with a mental 
disorder, the boy Avas so grieved that his depression assumed 
the character of a disease. He became dull of comprehen- 
sion, and disinclined to work. He would mistake his 
father's instructions, complained of fear, and ate and slept 
but little. A fall aggravated his condition seriously. All 
day he stared gloomily before him, refusing food, and com- 
plaining of a pain in the breast. 

Falret reports the following case : A boy eleven years 
old, of a very cheerful disposition, suddenly began to neglect 
some of his exercises, excusing himself by saying that he 
had just returned from his vacation and had not yet gotten 
used to work. In spite of severe and repeated punishment, 



198 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

he obstinately refused to do his exercises. He became mor- 
bid, had violent headaches, refused food, slept little, and 
finally conceived the idea of ending his life by voluntary 
starvation. After two days of fasting he grew tired of his 
plan, and took food once more. The idea of suicide per- 
sisted, however, for about a year. He sought constantly to 
separate himself from others, and once he escaped during a 
walk, and ran to the river to throw himself in. In this he 
was prevented. At last the holidays came, and he returned 
to his home. His father threatened to put him to work in 
the fields if he did not alter his conduct. These reproaches 
from his father, who had never punished him unjustly, 
saddened him immeasurably. The idea of suicide became 
stronger than ever, but the gentle treatment he received 
from his mother finally drove it from his mind. 

Emminghaus relates the story of a girl of fourteen who 
was attacked, and greatly terrified, by a flock of turkeys. 
Dizziness, pains in the head, heart palpitations, loss of 
appetite and sleep, followed. At night, just before falling 
asleep, she had phantasms of hearing, when she heard the 
screams of turkeys. This would be followed by attacks of 
nightmare. She lost all inclination to work, stayed in 
whatever spot she happened to be, and spoke no word un- 
asked. Often she would sigh heavily, and when jokingly 
addressed, would smile listlessly. Her voice was low and 
without expression. When questioned, she would simply 
say " I am sad," without giving any reason. 

This case is described by West: A five-year old boy was 
taken to his father's funeral. The boy, who was slightly 
ill at the time, was seen to shudder violently, and by signs 
he indicated a headache. Thenceforth for the most part he 
spoke no more, refused food, and simply lay in bed, silent 
and indifferent to all around him. After a slight improve- 
ment, the melancholy, indifEerence, and drowsiness returned. 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 199 

Now and then he called for his mother, even when she was 
by his side. The lethargy increased steadily for sixteen 
days, when he died. 

The presence of paranoia is indicated by hallucinations 
and delusions. These have been referred to already as 
elementary psychic disorders. According as hallucinations 
or delusions predominate, we speak of hallucinatory para- 
noia, or simple paranoia. The former is not rare in child- 
hood. The latter occurs oftener in boys than girls. Blin 
reports that out of 179 mentally afflicted children observed 
by him, there were 26 cases of paranoia. A few examples 
may make clear the nature of the phantasies of this 
disorder. 

Ziehen observed the case of a boy of thirteen, in whom 
hallucinations and illusions occurred more and more as time 
went on. "He heard a knocking, as upon an empty pot." 
He saw a coffin on the wall, and the eyes of a spectre. He 
saw snails in his food. His shoes appeared to him as horses' 
heads. At night he saw flames of fire, and hid himself 
under the bedclothes. The figures in the pictures on the 
wall were altered before his eyes. He considered himself 
very talented, and wrote political essays. He held aloof 
from the rest of the family, and once he said to his mother, 
" I decline any teaching ; you are not of our stock." 

Meschede tells of a five-year-old girl who saw before the 
window her playmates as enemies, in the attitude of strik- 
ing her. She saw bread lying on an empty plate ; believed 
that the food which was given to her contained poison ; heard, 
in absolute stillness, her baby sister crying. She complained 
that her sister had beaten her with a stick, and that her 
mother had put crumbs in her bed. She imagined that 
worms crawled over her hands and eyes, also all kinds of 
strange flies. Then the idea took possession of her that 
some one was going to steal her and her sister ; so she begged 



200 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

her mother to lock the door, and would not rest until the 
key was brought to her, 

Steiner tells of a boy of twelve, who, without any ap- 
parent cause, was seized with the delusion that his own 
father wanted to kill him. Whenever he saw his father, 
he showed great uneasiness, and tried to run away. If he 
found the door closed, he would try to jump out of the win- 
dow; if prevented in this, he would seek other means of 
escape. One night, when he considered himself unwatched, 
he got out of bed and went quickly to the window to jump 
down. With this in mind he would also sometimes retire to 
his bed without undressing. 

In cases of mania, melancholia, and paranoia, the teacher 
can do but little. The parents should be urged to consult 
an expert alienist. Pedagogical influences in these cases 
have no result. Especially should the teacher avoid any re- 
sort to punishment in dealing with these disorders. 

Imbecility. The chief symptoms of this mental disease 
are weakness of memory and weakness of judgment. These 
have already been discussed where they appear as simple 
disorders of the mind. The former shows itself in the lack 
of ideas, the latter in the incapacity to associate ideas. 
Both are conditional on a diseased state of the brain. Im- 
becility is of three grades, according to the degree of men- 
tal weakness. The severest form is idiocy, the lightest 
may be called debility, the intermediate simply imbecility. 
Sharp lines of distinction, however, cannot be drawn be- 
tween these, nor between " debility " and the noi-mal state. 
Innate mental weakness occurs quite frequently. Statistics 
gathered in Switzerland showed that of 1000 children be- 
tween the ages of seven and fourteen, not less than 15.3 were 
mentally weak in some degree. 

Idiocy is characterized by an incapacity to acquire ideas, 
or to connect those that already exist. The idiot may re- 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 201 

ceive impressions of sight or hearing ever so frequently, and 
yet obtain from them no memory image. Therefore he be- 
comes acquainted neither with his family nor with his sur- 
roimdings. In idiocy of a less pronounced type single 
concrete ideas are acquired. The treatment of idiocy is the 
business of the professional alienist. Idiots should not be 
received into the school under any circumstances. Two ex- 
amples will serve to illustrate this condition. 

Ziehen tells of a three-year-old boy who was blind from 
his birth. His skull was of an exceedingly strange shape. 
The left half seemed to be pushed crookedly against the 
right half. The forehead projected towards the right, but 
the back of the head inclined prominently to the left. The 
bones of the trunk showed strong indications of rickets. 
The child could neither walk, stand, nor speak. He could 
make some inarticulate cries. Among the imitations laugh- 
ter was not included. His arms and legs were not crippled, 
as was shown by occasional struggling, and other move- 
ments. But the complex movements of grasping, holding, 
and the like, were entirely wanting. If an object were laid 
upon his hand, he would let it fall again immediately. He 
had greater difficulty in swallowing liquid than solid food. 
On being called, he would respond in an almost normal way. 
He appeared to distinguish the voices of his family from 
those of strangers, bat, on the other hand, he could not dis- 
tinguish the voice of his father from that of his mother. 
His sensitiveness to pain was limited. 

Moreau observed the case of a girl of twelve whose 
body was misshapen and scrofulous. At the age of 
seven she could not yet walk. She occupied herself with 
nothing, took no interest in anything. It was only with 
the greatest difficulty that she understood the simple ques- 
tions of everyday life. After her seventh year she began 
to stand a little by herself ; and her reason (or rather her 



202 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

instinct) developed somewhat. But at the age of eleven, 
owing to a bad accident, she was thrown back into complete 
mental oblivion. From this time on she lost the few im- 
pressions she had received, and not long afterwards paralysis 
set in in her left side, and this was followed by epileptic 
fits. 

In imbecility in the limited sense there is a greater number 
of ideas than in idiocy. The imbecile learns to recognize 
persons and things, and not infrequently he can distinguish 
colors and simple numbers. Usually, however, he lacks the 
power to fix his attention on one object for any length of 
time. He can associate only concrete ideas. Outbursts of 
passion are far more frequent than with idiots. They 
almost all show selfishness and vindictiveness of dispo- 
sition much more than sympathy and gratitude. The im- 
becile lacks the sense of right and wrong. His vocab- 
ulary consists chiefly of words representing sensible 
objects; he can also form simple sentences. Many even 
succeed in obtaining a scanty knowledge of reading and 
•writing. But the ability to speak is acquired very late. 
The actions of imbeciles are much more varied than those of 
idiots, but there is seldom any deliberation, and their acts 
seem to be performed by instinct. As imbeciles are ca- 
pable of complex actions, they may become dangerous. 
Thefts, incendiarism, and other misdeeds are not rare 
among them, and hence they require careful watching. 
Their treatment is, on the whole, the same as that of idiots. 
A few cases will show more clearly the character and de- 
meanor of these imbeciles. 

Moreau tells of a thirteen-year-old girl whom the mother 
could not keep with her, on account of her bad behavior. 
Her development had been retarded from her earliest years. 
She would show sudden outbursts of anger and impulse to 
destroy things. Her power of judgment was not sufficient 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 203 

to guide her actions. She was excitable in the highest de- 
gree, and could not remain more than an instant in one place. 
She would relate her misdemeanors without any hesitation. 
She could scarcely read or write, and showed violent dislike 
to any work. 

Calmeil was acquainted with an imbecile of seventeen 
years whose younger brother was also weak-minded. If 
these brothers were refused anything they wanted, they 
would become extremely violent, so that it required great 
force to hold them back. 

Moreau mentions a weak-minded boy of seven years of 
age who tried to strangle his sister. Another imbecile 
murdered his two nephews, and then with laughter told the 
news to their parents. 

In debility there may be a considerable number of con- 
crete ideas, but they are acquired much later than in chil- 
dren of normal mental caliber. Color distinctions and ideas 
of number are particularly late in becoming developed. 
Still more striking is the lack of associated or complex 
ideas. Such children learn only with great difficulty to 
distinguish a pine tree from a fir. General notions in 
the main are not acquired. They soon learn, for example, 
to use the word "merchant," but they connect the word 
only with certain individuals known to them. Ideas such 
as " city," " religion," " property," " wrong," are not gen- 
erally comprehended. The attention cannot long be held 
on one thing. In the education of these children it is of 
the utmost importance to know that with them the intellec- 
tual feelings are formed very late, and altruistic feeling is 
arrested in development. The power to speak, walk, grasp, 
etc., is always acquired later than in normal children. 
Defects in speech are common, especially stammering. 
Vicious propensities, such as falsehood, truancy, and the 
like, are early acquired, and punishment, as a rule, is futile. 



204 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

In composition and arithmetic these children usually ac- 
complish nothing. 

In their treatment the physician and the teacher must 
work together. The former must determine the physical 
and mental condition of the patient, in order to determine 
the treatment. The latter must then fit his instruction ex- 
actly to the condition of the child. This is impossible in 
the ordinary school classes, and so in many cities special 
classes have been formed for these pupils. 

In the present connection we have still to mention a cer- 
tain type of peculiar moral perversion, whose nature may 
best be shown by means of an example. Binswanger tells of 
a ten-year-old boy the following : At the beginning of his 
attendance at school, in his sixth year, it became apparent 
that he was mentally quite unfit for education, being un- 
able to follow instruction, do exercises, or acquire even 
the simplest kinds of knowledge. Now, after three and a 
half years of schooling, he has not succeeded so far as to 
write his name, or set down single letters, or one-syllable 
words from a copy. He can neither read nor count. He 
sits, as his teacher expressed it, blankly in the classroom. 
In spite of careful teaching, he has not made the least 
progress in arithmetic or writing. He shows a great deal of 
moral perversion. He drowned cats, tormented other ani- 
mals, intruded when unwatched into strange premises, let 
the cattle out of the stalls, and killed the fowls. It is said 
that he even made an attempt upon the life of a schoolmate. 
At nine years of age he made vicious attacks upon his 
companions. According to the teacher's report, the boy can 
be employed to run errands, carry out verbal commissions, 
etc. In the psychiatric clinic he shows great motor unrest, 
and when told to be still, obeys only for a few moments. 
He scrambles over everything, mounts the tables and chairs, 
rummages through other patients' beds, and tries to take 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 205 

their food from them, often threatening them with violence. 
He is noisy, importunate, curious, dirty, indecent, unreason- 
able, and indifferent to every admonition. He shows no 
longing for home. He likes it where he is ; for he has 
good things to eat, he says. The significance of Christmas 
and New Year he does not know. At first he would do 
no work, but continually played malicious jokes, sang, 
whistled, howled, locked the doors, and hid things away. 
Once he counterfeited right cleverly an epileptic fit which 
he had witnessed. At various times he committed thefts, 
taking things from the clothes of his fellow-patients. Some- 
times he would give the stolen things away. When ques- 
tioned, he could give no reason for his conduct, nor did he 
seem to have any conception that his behavior was wrong. 
He shows a disposition to tease and torment helpless pa- 
tients. He cannot be left alone with other youthful patients, 
for he leads them into vicious ways. 

II. The Neuroses, or Nerve Diseases 

Neurasthenia is indicated by the following symptoms: 
hypersensibility and abnormal sensations; lassitude in 
respect of association of ideas, and also in respect of volun- 
tary movements ; abnormal irritability ; disturbed sleep. 

Hypersensibility occurs most frequently in the case of 
hearing. Neurasthenic children become immoderately ex- 
cited by loud noises. They are troubled by abnormal sensa- 
tions, such as the " going to sleep " of the arms and legs, 
and by " pins and needles " sensations. This is regularly 
accompanied by a feeling of pressure or pain in the head. 
Weakness in regard to association of ideas shows itself in 
the rapid abatement of the attention. Thought processes 
are slow. Nervous children work at first as quickly and as 
correctly as healthy children, but the power of mental work 



206 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

diminishes very rapidly. Lassitude in respect of movement 
shows itself in a diminished power of physical endurance. 
Nervous children tire quickly in walking, running, reading, 
or writing. Their sleep is badly disturbed. Sometimes 
they are a long time in getting to sleep, and sometimes 
they toss restlessly and have disturbing dreams. In 
the morning they are not refreshed, but feel weak and 
wretched. 

As has been shown by Arndt, Emminghaus, Oppenheim, 
Sanger, Ziehen, and others, neurasthenia occurs very fre- 
quently in children. It is more common among the children 
of the cultured classes, and more frequent in cities than 
among country children. Boys and girls are about equally 
liable to it. Since neurasthenia, if neglected too long, 
becomes incurable, it is the teacher's duty to bring such 
cases to the attention of the parents, and urge them to 
consult a physician. If neurasthenia is not checked in its 
development, the nervous child will grow up into a nervous 
adult, unfit for work, and a burden to himself and others. 
Parents and teachers, therefore, should earnestly take it 
upon themselves to guard against neurasthenia. For this 
reason no alcoholic drinks, no tea, coffee, or tobacco, should 
be given to children. The air of the schoolroom and the 
sleeping room should be pure and rich in oxygen. Children 
should have daily exercise and active games in the open air. 
Special attention should be given to the matter of sleep. 
Children from six to ten years of age should go to bed at 
seven o'clock, and those from eleven to fifteen years, at nine 
o'clock at the latest. Mental overexertion should by all 
means be avoided. Hence the school should be selected ac- 
cording to the constitution of the child, not according to the 
wealth or social position of the parents. Excessive home 
work should not be imposed on children who spend several 
hours every day in school. Between the school classes there 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 207 

should be frequent pauses for rest and recreation. A few 
cases will illustrate the state of neurasthenia. 

Emminghaus is responsible for the following story of a 
thirteen-year-old girl : She was an orphan, and grew up 
among strangers. A serious disposition, very sensitive to 
injury, had been noticed in her from the first. Her mental 
power had always been good. Learning was easy for her, 
and in it she displayed an ardent ambition until about three 
months ago. Then she began to show a dislike and an in- 
capacity for strenuous work, together with a lack of attention 
in school, failure of memory, and a dreamy, indolent mood. 
She would withdraw from her companions, and was found 
regularly in her room, lying on the bed, or busy with some 
hand work. Her sleep was poor, nocturnal frights were 
frequent, and she rose in the morning with great reluctance. 
She complained of headache. Her complexion was pale, 
but would sometimes turn suddenly to vivid red. Irregu- 
larities of appetite became frequent. 

Gilntz gives us the story of an eleven-year-old boy whose 
father was anxious to make something extraordinary out of 
him, and not only sought clever teachers, but insisted on 
numerous classes and lessons. Every success led the father 
to urge the boy on all the more. Gradually he lost his 
cheerfulness, and became careless about attending school. 
In school he became inattentive, and consequently soon had 
bad reports. This resulted in severe punishments from his 
father. All the symptoms of neurasthenia followed, and 
these brought after them still more serious psychopathic 
conditions, of longer duration. 

Sanger observed an eleven-year-old boy who became 
troubled with such a persistent winking of the eyes as pre- 
vented him from doing his school tasks. He was a pale, 
delicate boy, who suffered acutely from attacks of fear. He 
did not like to be left alone, was afraid of thunder-storms, 



208 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

and slept very badly. He was an industrious and ambitious 
pupil. On Sanger's advice be was taken out of school for 
four weeks, whereupon, by suitable treatment, a complete 
cure was effected. 

Hysteria is a nervous disorder whose symptoms are dis- 
turbances of the touch sensations, and of the higher sense- 
activities, morbid abstraction and hyperphantasy, altera- 
tions of the disposition, such as increase of selfishness, and, 
in nearly all cases, convulsions, and sometimes paralysis. 

Of these symptoms hyperphantasy and the change of dis- 
position are the most prominent. Disturbances of sensations 
show themselves first and foremost in " hysterical " pains. 
For example, one hysterical child will complain of pain in 
one part of the body, and another of pain in another part. 
The disturbances of the higher sense-activities are shown in 
illusions and hallucinations, for the most part of sight. 
These occur more frequently by night than by day. In 
these illusions animals, threatening forms, flowers, coffins, 
graves, angels, etc., play a large part. For example, a 
twelve-year-old girl saw, as she was passing through a church- 
yard, a little form run after her, then fall back and vanish 
into the grave. 

Generally, a hysterical child can concentrate the atten- 
tion but poorly ; hence abstraction of mind is an important 
symptom, as are also errors of memory. These have their 
source in an abnormally exaggerated fancy, which trans- 
forms the memory pictures. From the same cause a hysteri- 
cal child is given to the invention of fantastical tales. He 
imagines he has been overtaken and attacked by animals. 
Many of these false memories are involuntary, but in some 
cases the child is quite aware of his falsehood, which then 
is of the nature of a pathological lie. Through such lies 
hysterical children seek to make themselves interesting, to 
gratify a desire, or to avoid a punishment. Their feelings 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 209 

are subject to unusual changes : love and hate, joy and sad- 
ness, anger and fear, follow quickly one upon the other. 
Another peculiarity of most hysterical children is abnormal 
selfishness. Their whole thought is centred upon the self. 
This is shown also in their inordinate vanity. The physical 
symptoms are manifold, but these have more interest for 
the doctor than foj the teacher. We might mention, how- 
ever, the cramping or crippling of the limbs, or of the organs 
of speech, of the muscles of the eyes, and other muscular 
groups. Convulsive crying, laughing, vomiting, and trem- 
bling are not rare. 

Briquet, Jolly, Cloppat, Goldspiegel, Schafer, Ftirstner, 
Smidt, SeeligmuUer, Henoch, Riegel, Tuczeck, Emminghaus, 
Bruns, Sanger, Ziehen, Eulenberg, Bezy, Bibent, Berillon, 
Tailor, Biller, Binswanger, Oppenheim, and other nerve 
specialists have shown that hysteria is of frequent occur- 
rence among children, surpassing even inborn imbecility, 
neurasthenia, or any other "psychopathy." Girls are 
afflicted with it somewhat more frequently than boys ; and 
city children more than country children. It is often 
brought on by a fright, an injury, or a psychic infection. 
Epidemics of hysteria have been known to occur in schools. 
We need only refer to the epidemic of trembling that broke 
out in 1891-2 in a girls' school at Basel and in 1905-6 in a 
public school at Meissen. If hysteria lasts a long time, it 
becomes incurable. The hysterical child grows into the 
hysterical man or woman, and that, as Brock justly says, is 
an unmitigated misfortune for the patient, and scarcely less 
so for his neighbors. Therefore everything should be done 
to correct the disorder at its beginnings. In this the teacher 
can do important service. If he believes he sees symptoms 
of hysteria, he should inform the child's parents, and urge 
them to consult a physician. The treatment most efficacious 
has been well characterized by Ewald: "Not medicine, 



210 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

but the doctor and the teacher, must cure hysteria." The 
influences brought to bear must not be medicinal, but 
hygienic and pedagogical. Hence the teacher must work 
hand in hand with the doctor. He can assist by restraining 
the child's phantasy, and by keeping from him such books 
as would excite the mind or hold it in tension. He should 
train the pupil to the mastery of his passions, and to the 
love of truth. In hysterical children not only every un- 
truth but every exaggeration must at once be corrected. 
He must further insist that the hysterical child associate 
with the other children, and learn to adapt himself to them, 
feeling himself a member of the class, though not the centre. 
Unlike neurasthenia and debility, there is no danger of 
overloading the hysterical child. He can do the same work 
as the normal child, except that allowance must be made 
for that abstraction which is the accompaniment of hysteria. 
"Heavy mental work," says Ziehen, "injures the hysterical 
child far less than fantastical dreaming." Considering the 
unusual variety of forms which this disorder may take, it is 
well to add a few illustrations. 

Ziehen tells of a boy of sixteen who had been a good 
scholar, but whose conduct altered materially after some 
attacks of convulsions. He sent to his own address tele- 
grams signed with another name. In these despatches he 
was congratulated that he was soon to be a great man and a 
millionnaire. Now the family need want no more. To 
each of his brothers and sisters he bequeathed 100,000 
marks. He was invited into the State Cabinet, etc. Such 
despatches arrived from time to time. On one occasion the 
boy stole a valuable ring from his sister, and pawned it. 
But even when the pawn ticket was shown him, he main- 
tained that he had not taken the ring. On another occasion 
he said that he had been in the hospital, and had been oper- 
ated on for heart trouble. Thereupon he showed his breast, 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 211 

over which he had placed a bandage. When this was re- 
moved, and no wound was seen, he said that the wound was 
so small that it could not be seen, but that a pint of water 
and a basin of blood had been drawn out of his heart, and 
glass tubes inserted in it. 

Ewald observed the case of a nine-year-old boy who was 
always very lively, and at times quite wild and tyrannical 
over the whole household. When he had to try an examina- 
tion for admittance to a higher school, he became very much 
exercised. Although successful in this examination, he be- 
gan, a few days later, to vomit after every meal, and this con- 
tinued for more than six weeks. Then he went with his 
mother to the country, and during his visit was quite normal. 
On returning, however, to his home and to school, the trouble 
began again, with other symptoms. For weeks before his re- 
moval to the hospital nothing would remain on his stomach, 
and his parents, finding themselves unable to bring about 
any relief, became very much concerned. He came with his 
father to the hospital, and proved himself, after his recep- 
tion, to be a very difficult youth to manage. Whenever his 
father left the room for a few minutes, he would break out 
into regular Indian war whoops. At night he would spring 
out of bed and run out upon the lawn in his night-clothes, if 
his father, who slept in the next room, was not right on the 
spot. He would take no food, and immediately threw up 
undigested any that was administered to him. It seemed 
clear that in this case a spoilt boy was to be dealt with, and 
that Ewald's task was more pedagogical than medical. So he 
sent the father away for a time, and talked earnestly to the 
boy, with the result that the cries for " Papa " became less 
frequent and less noisy. He was kept in bed and for three 
days was sustained exclusively by injected nourishment. 
The first day he vomited a quantity of slime. His raging 
and screaming continued, but that it had no real significance 



212 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

was seen from the fact that if any one began talking to him 
on a subject in which he was interested, he would become 
quite reasonable, give orderly answers, and be still for the 
time being. 

Ziehen gives the following story of a girl of thirteen : 
From time to time she had attacks, of which she said, " It 
goes to my heart, and I get so frightened." At such times 
she would fall down, but without crying out, her body would 
writhe back and forth, she would pull her hair, drive her 
fists into her eyes and mouth, beat time with her arms and 
with one leg, and tear her clothes. In all this she remained 
fully conscious, and would sometimes laugh and call her 
mother to her. The duration of the attacks varied from five 
minutes to eight and one-half hours. Sometimes they would 
occur when her wishes were frustrated. Eepeatedly she 
attempted suicide. Once she told her parents that she had 
eaten matches. Once she ran away from home. In the 
hospital, after one of her attacks, she maintained that she 
was dying, and invented the most horrible stories about her 
father. 

Eulenberg describes the case of a twelve-year-old girl who 
was crippled and quite incapable of walking. She had to 
be carried upstairs, and could stand only for a short time with 
the help of two canes, when the left leg would " go to sleep " 
and become bent in a curious position, remaining so, with 
the sole of the foot upturned, and this without any visible 
effort. At every attempt to walk, even with the help of her 
sticks, the girl's knees would suddenly bend, and the upper 
half of her body would be thrown backward in the most pe- 
ciiliar way. After that there would be no thought of volun- 
tary movement. Eulenberg sent the mother into the next 
room, kept the daughter with him, and depicted to her what 
a joyful surprise she would give her mother, if suddenly and 
unexpectedly she should open the door and walk into the 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 213 

next room withovit assistance. This, he assured her, she could 
certainly accomplish, if she would be willing to submit for 
a little while to a paiuful process. He then showed her an 
electrical machine, and told her she must lie down and per- 
mit a stream of sparks to play on her back and legs for two 
and a half minutes. She resolved to bear the ordeal, and 
did so without crying out. Afterwards she was somewhat 
excited, and trembled, but allowed herself to be quieted, 
partook of some biscuits and chocolate, and then, straighten- 
ing herself up, walked to her mother in the next room, with- 
out difficulty and without assistance. 

Sanger tells of a boy of nine who suddenly became unable 
to read or write. He succeeded in reading only large signs, 
and on being asked to write his name, produced only an il- 
legible scrawl. Preparations were made to remove the boy 
to a hospital. Just before leaving home, the father told the 
boy that the doctors would take his eye out at the hospital. 
The result of these words was that the moment the boy 
arrived at the hospital he was able both to read and to 
write. 

Epilepsy is a nerve trouble whose symptoms are as follows : 
Loss of memory ( amnesia ), generally also a diminution of 
the power of thought, abnormal irritability, dizziness, and 
attacks of convulsions, and frequently impairment of the 
moral faculties. The most prominent of these symptoms is 
the loss of memory. The disorder varies both in degree and 
in duration. Sometimes it appears merely as a slight dim- 
ness of recollection, at other times the memory completely 
disappears. The abnormal irritability has already been dis- 
cussed as an elementary disorder of the psychic life. In 
the epileptic convulsions we see three stages : in the prelim- 
inary stage twitchings of certain muscular groups occur, to- 
gether with unpleasant sensations, such as prickings on the 
skin, and flickerings and color spots before the eyes, dizzi- 



214 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

ness, and unusual irritation. In the convulsion proper the 
epileptic loses consciousness, falls to the ground, and has 
severe spasms in all the muscles. In the after stage the 
spasms cease slowly and the unconscious sufferer sinks into 
a deep sleep. The epileptic may become dangerous in his 
half-conscious state. Although not yet conscious, he can, 
to all appearance, apply himself to activities by impulse, and 
he may do violent acts. In epileptic dizziness consciousness 
is dim for a short time only, but the patient may be over- 
taken by it at any time, and during any employment. 

Epilepsy is not rare among children. According to statis- 
tics taken in Saxony in 1889, out of 585,061 school children 
there were 864 epileptics, of whom 437 were girls, and 427 
boys. Thus, out of every 677 school children there is one 
epileptic. Because of the peculiar nature of the disease the 
teaching of such children presents great difficulties. After 
an attack such children are liable to have forgotten every- 
thing again. They are often troubled with dizziness with- 
out the teacher's knowledge. Moreover, the irregular 
attendance of epileptic children at school is in the highest 
degree inimical to their progress. Their peculiar character- 
istics must be studied. Very often they are averse to work 
from their earliest youth, often they are whimsical, mistrust- 
ful, egotistic, selfish, disobedient, and quarrelsome. Some 
are cunningly deceptive and dishonest. Two stories will 
illustrate the nature of epilepsy. 

Emminghaus tells of a boy of eleven who at times would 
obey his mother quite willingly; at other times he would 
resist her uproariously. Often he was quite stormy in de- 
manding his own way. For example, he was determined to 
go swimming and riding, though he knew he might have 
an epileptic fit at any moment. He was also determined to 
drink beer immoderately, in spite of the admonition that 
spirituous liquors would only do him harm. He would not 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFE 215 

stay at home from school, although the fits often came on 
during classes. If his demands were refused, however 
kindly, he was cold, pettish, and passionate, for a time, then 
he would humbly submit. Sometimes he applied himself 
even to over-exertion to his tasks, at other times he would 
do nothing for days. Often he ran away from home, and 
stayed away a long time, regardless of the anxiety which he 
was well aware his absence would cause. 

Kolle informs us of a ten-year-old boy, a, very delicate 
child, intelligent, usually good-natured and obedient, that he 
would sometimes become completely changed. He would 
then talk about his parents in the most shocking manner, 
and when called to account for it by his mother, would 
threaten her with violence. 



Summary 

For the understanding of the psychopathies which have 
been under discussion, there are still two things to be con- 
sidered. First, one must bear in mind that perfect health 
and pronounced disease are separated from each other, not 
by a sharp line of distinction, but rather by numerous inter- 
mediate conditions. These transitional forms are of common 
occurrence in children. Secondly, we must notice that in 
the psychopathies many combinations may exist. Combi- 
nations of neurasthenia and hysteria, or hysteria and epi- 
lepsy, or epilepsy and idiocy, are not rare. These conditions 
naturally increase the difficulty of recognizing the various 
psychopathies. But the teacher must not be discouraged 
by these difficulties, but take heart from the words of 
Binswanger : " If the teacher possesses a sufficient under- 
standing of abnormal conditions in childhood, there opens 
to him a rich field of activity. The means have been placed 



216 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD 

in his hand whereby he may influence the parents in such 
cases, and bring about the consultation of a competent 
physician, and secure the proper treatment of the sufferer." 
In order that the reader may compare the various psy- 
chopathies more conveniently, we collect the main symp- 
toms in the following summary : 



PSYCHOPATHIC CONDITIONS IN CHILD LIFK 217 



J 

$ 
ii 

M 

I ^ 
« 






Amnesia, and 
diminution 
of thought- 
power. 


III 


§ 

•43 

In 


1 i 

'a a 

Q CST3 


03 
f 


Disorders of 
the higher 
sense 
activities. 


Abnormal 
abstraction 
and hyper- 
phantasy. 


Abnormal 
changeable- 
ness. 
Selfishness. 




Convulsions, 
often accom- 
panied by 
paralysis. 


^ 


Hyper-fes- 
thesia, and 
abnormal 
sensations. 


Abnormal 
]a.ssitude of 
association 
of ideas. 


Abnormal 
excitability 
or 
irascibility. 


Abnormal 
weariness in 
respect of 
voluntary 
movement. 


h 


1 
CD 

s 

? 
s 

i 

3 
P^ 


a 




Poverty of 
ideas and 
associations. 
Weakness of 
memory and 
judgment. 








1 


a 

u 


a 
.2 

Q 








1 




Abnormal 
retardation 
of the course 
of ideas. 
Restriction 
of thought. 


III 


"3 . 

gia ■ 

Ill 




.3 




Abnormal 
acceleration 
of the course 
of ideas. 
"Idea-rout." 


1.2 M" 

a-^^S 
<; a> o 


Abnormal 
increase of 
the motor 
impulse. 








If 


Disorders of 
thought. 


o 

Si 
5=2 


5l 


Physical dis- 
orders. 



INDEX 



Abstraction, 119. 
Accommodation, 2. 
Activity, 40, 50, 150, 151, 180. 
Affection, 87. 
Altruism, 90. 
Anger, 79 ff. 
Anthropomorphism, 190. 
Association, of ideas, 49, 52 ff., 78; 

of movements, 7, 8. 
Astonishment, 82. 
Attention, 7, 47, 11(5, 117. 

Beauty, 85, 86, 1G6, 178. 
Brain, 126. 
Breathing, 123. 

Catarrh, 36. 

Cheerfulness, 91. 

Color blindness, 11, 18, 19, 166. 

Color sense, 11 ff., 15 ff. 

Conception, 63 ff., 137, 141. 

Consonants, 152 ff. 

Coordination, 4-6. 

Crowing, 40, 41, 98. 

Cry, 39, 89, 99, 110, 112, 129. 

Curiosity, 41, 82-84. 

Debility, 203. 

Deliberative movements, 114. 

Desire, 116. 

DLscriraination, 11, 35, 44, 45. 

Disorders, mental, 51, 56, 91, 193 ff.; 

of speech, 163 ff. 
Dramatic instinct, 61, 86, 185. 
Drawing, 166 ff. 
Dreams, 60, 79. 

Education, 30, 34, 79, 119 ff., 151. 
Epilepsy, 202, 213-214. 
Expressive movements, 109 ff. 



Eye, 1-4, 29. 
Eye-movements, 4-5, 101. 

Fear, 76 ff., 207. 
Fixation, 6. 
Fixed ideas, 57. 

Generalization, 65 ff., 119. 
Gesture, 110, 118, 122. 

Habit, 102. 

Hallucination, 20-21, 58, 199, 208. 

Hearing, 21 ff., 205. 

Heredity, 4, 25, 99, 119 ff. 

Homesickness, 88. 

Humor, 84. 

Hunger, 39. 

Hyperphautasy, 62. 

Hypersensibility, 205, 208. 

Hysteria, 208 ff. 

"I," 73-74, 140. 

Idea-rout, 56. 

Ideational movements, 97, 105 ff., 

161. 
Idiocy, 200. 
Illusions, 20-21, 46-47. 
Imagination, 59 ff., 185. 
Imbecility, 200-202. 
Imitation, 44, 106 ff., 117, 120, 131, 

134, 137, 141, 167. 
Impulsive movements, 96, 97 ff., 154, 

161. 
Inhibition, 94, 101, 116. 
Instinctive movements, 97, 102 ff., 

161. 
Interpretation of sensations, 19-20, 

24. 



218 



INDEX 



219 



Jealousy, 90. 
Judgment, 67 ff. 

Kiss, 112. 

Language, 43, CA, 118 ff. 
Larynx, 124, 125. 
Laugh, 84, 85, 100, 111. 
Left-handedness, 102-103. 
Lies, 181 ff. 
Light, 2-3. 
Lips, 28. 

Localization, 23, 44. 
Lungs, 123-124. 

Mania, 195. 

Melancholy, 91, 92, 197. 
Melody, 25-2G. 
Memory, 31, 47 ff., 88. 
Mirror image, 71. 
Morality, 179 ff ., 189. 
Music, 25, 85. 

Nature study, 192. 
Neurasthenia, 205. 
Nodding, 113. 
Nose, 28, 30. 

Pain, 39, 101. 
Palm, 30. 
Paranoia, 199. 
Parts of speech, 148. 
Perception, 38, 44 ff. 
Personality, 189. 
Perspective, 10 ff. 
Phantasy, 185, 199. 
Pictures, 100 ff. 
Play, 61. 
Pleasure, 40, 84. 
Pronouns, 140. 
Pronunciation, 154 ff., lf)5. 
Property, feeling of, 72, 90. 
Psychopathies, 193 ff. 
Punishment, 187 ff., 200. 

Reasoning, 68. 
Recept, 64. 
Recognition, 46, 89. 



Reduplication, 136, 160. 
Reflexes, 3, 97, 98 ff., 161. 
Religion, 189. 
Representation, 167-168. 
Rhythm, 25. 

School children, 15 ff., 18, 34, 37, 50, 

55, 164, 182 ff. 
Scribble, 167, 168, 172. 
Seeing, 6 ff. 
Self, 31, 70 ff. 
Selfishness, 89, 90. 
Sensations, 6 ff. 
Sentences, 135 ff. 
Sleep, 98, 208. 
Smile, 40, 87, 98, 110, 111. 
Sneezing, 99. 
Sound, 22. 

Sounds, 128 ff., 151 ff. 

Space, 42, 44. 

Stammering, 165. 

Standing, 104. 

Stuttering, 164. 

Sucking, 45, 103. 

Suggestion, 88, 182, 184, 185. 

Suicide, 198. 

Summary of psychopathies, 217. 

Surprise, 81 ff. 

Sympathy, 87-89. 

Teacher. 37, 184, 193, 200, 204, 210, 

215. 
Tears, 112-113. 
Temper, 92. 
Thirst, 39. 

Thought impediment, 56. 
Timbre, 24. 
Tongue, 28, 125. 
Toys, 178. 
Trachea, 125. 

Transformation, 75, 95, 96, 99, 161, 
167, 179. 

Vocabularies, 143 ff. 
Vowels, 152, 153. 

Walking, 41, 104^105. 
Weeping, 112. 
Will, 93 ff., 101, 114. 



